Quarterback Sneak
by il-bel-mondo
Summary: Edward Cullen is the cocky, flirtatious quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals and Bella Swan is a no nonsense cheerleader on their squad. What happens when all Bella wants out of life is a white Christmas? Will her boyfriend, Edward be able to pull it off
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my collaboration with Lexecullen17 for the Twilight Fic Exchange. Our gift was for , she wanted a football based story or something to do with a white Christmas, we tried our hardest to give her both.****  
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****Summary:Edward Cullen is the cocky, flirtatious quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals and Bella Swan is a no nonsense cheerleader on their squad. What happens when all Bella wants out of life is a white Christmas? Will her boyfriend, Edward, be able to pull of the dream gift or will it all fall apart?/b****  
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**__**EPOV**_

"You okay, Em?" I laughed, noticing the excessive amount of sweat dripping off of my friend's forehead as we finished up our last drill.

We were the last two on the field. All the other boys had headed into the locker room, but as captain of the team, I was required to stay on the field until the last person had completed their run. At 250 lbs of hulking muscle, Emmett was _always_ last. Like…four minutes behind everyone else. But he was a fucking amazing line backer, and an even better friend, so I never complained.

"Why is it still 100 degrees in December?" Emmett wheezed, pulling his helmet off to deter the sweat from dripping into his eyes. That shit stung.

"I don't know, Em…maybe because we live in a desert. You should know after five years playing for the Cardinals that Phoenix is always hot." Annoyed, Emmett wiped the river of sweat from his forehead and shook his hand in my direction, spraying his sweat into the air.

"You are such a fucking pig. No wonder Rose doesn't want to be seen in public with you." I laughed as Emmett's face contorted into an expression of shock, which only caused my laughter to increase.

In actuality, Rose _couldn_'_t_ be seen with Emmett; it wasn't that she didn't want to. But, after some interesting baby daddy situations between the players and our cheerleaders, we were no longer allowed to fraternize. In fact, I think I signed a clause on my contract saying that I wouldn't engage in any form of frottage with the cheerleaders during my time on the Cardinals. _Oops_. And clearly…oops for Emmett, too.

"Ha ha…laugh it up, QB," he groaned, shooting a pointed glare in my direction. "But some of us like working up a sweat."

"Oh, I like working up a sweat all right. Just not on the field." I smirked nodding my head toward the stretching cheerleaders, who were also winding down their practice. Best part of practice: watching the cheerleaders stretch. Without a doubt. My mouth salivated watching Rosalie stretch out my favorite cheerleader, her roommate, Bella.

_Mmm. Delicious. _ I watched on in delight as Bella grunted out a, "Harder, Rose," as Rosalie leaned into her leg, pushing it towards her shoulder. I licked my lips, noticing that she'd gotten even more flexible over the past few weeks, constantly pushing herself. My dick stood at attention as she moaned loudly. "Ah…oh yeah, right there." I lived to hear those sounds. She practically oozed sex.

"Enjoying the show?" Emmett chuckled into my ear.

"I always do," I smiled, completely unapologetic for having been caught ogling the half-naked, sweaty, moaning girls. _I mean, please. _ "Ladies." I walked past the stretching girls and towards the locker room.

"Edward, Edward!" I turned around, smiling widely at the two blondes in front of me. I fucked them both my first week on the team five years ago. God, I was such an asshole back then.

"Jessica, Lauren." I laughed as they both latched onto one of my arms. "How can I be of service this evening?"

"It's Lauren's birthday tomorrow, and like…we really want you to come. You know we're good at that," Jessica winked, sliding her long acrylic nails over my thigh. "And look at that, baby, you're ready to come right now…aren't you?" Of course, I was already hard from hearing my favorite brunette moan and sigh with pleasure, but I sucked it up and let the girls think it was for them. It was the least I could do, seeing as how there was no way in hell I was going to Lauren's birthday bash.

"You guys are bad," I smirked, moving my hands down to grab a handful of ass on either side of me. "You know I can't come. That's just mean." I quickly extracted myself from their prying claws before continuing towards the locker room.

That was all I could take for today.

"Pompous asshole," I heard Bella mutter behind me accompanied by Rosalie's high pitched giggling. I resisted the urge to turn around and retaliate, though. I really needed to get my pads off before I got heat stroke.

Inside the locker room, Emmett was already freshly showered and ready to head out. I threw my pads into my locker, groaning at the soreness in my left knee. I had already pulled the ligament once, and I would need to ice it tonight. That would put a serious damper on my evening plans. I smiled to myself, looking at the already wrapped gift sitting on the top shelf. Tonight was going to be great. I hoped.

"So, tonight?" Em pulled the gift from the shelf and shook it around a little bit, doing his own version of a touchdown dance. _What a tool._

"Yeah, tonight." I snatched back the gift and put it in my gym back, zipping it into the front pocket. There would be hell to pay if I lost that before tonight.

"Dude, you need to get laid in a bad way. I'm heading home. Calm the fuck down and call me later, k?"

I nodded and waved him off as I stripped off the rest of my clothes, donning only a towel as I walked to the showers. Emmett could never actually piss me off for more than a few seconds. Sweaty and hot and hard, I decided to turn the shower onto "cool" before removing my towel and stepping in slowly.

The cold water pelted onto my hardened cock, softening it quickly. Good thing, too. I didn't have time to waste taking care of that right now. After shampooing thoroughly, I stepped back under the spray, shocked by the frigid temperature of the water. As soon as I was rinsed off, I turned the heat back up, letting the hot water massage my aching back muscles. I was only 27. How could one measly practice make me this tired? I hated feeling like I was getting old.

Groaning, I turned the heat up even further, letting my eyes droop closed as my head tilted forward. The water came down in hot torrents, filling the room with steam. I inhaled deeply, letting the steam clear my head and calm me down.

And then, I wasn't so calm anymore. I could feel the soft curve of breasts and small hands ghosting over my back, making my cock come to life once more.

"You do that on purpose to drive me crazy," she murmured into the sensitive flesh at the center of my spine.

"Do what?" I smiled.

"You know what."

"Really?" I egged her on.

"I can't stand when you grab their asses," she said, her hands mimicking her own words, taking a large handful of my glutes. I chuckled quietly, knowing that it, in fact, did drive her insane. But if she could tease, then so could I, right? My laughter quickly turned to moans as her hands moved down my sides and slid forward to wrap themselves around my waist, pulling me completely flush to her. Slowly, but with extreme purpose, one of her hands made small circles on my abs, swiping lower each time. By the time her hand was only millimeters away from where I wanted her most, I was ready to explode.

Feeling impatient, I spun around without warning and pressed her body against the steamy tiles of the stall. Her brown eyes widened for a second before narrowing just as quickly as she attempted to squirm away from me. But, come on. She was an 115 lb tiny thing, and I was six feet and two inches of 180 lbs of lean muscle. I could probably throw her half way down the football field if I really tried. I mean, I didn't get recruited early out of Berkley for completing the curriculum too quickly, that was for sure.

"Edward," she whimpered, jutting out her bottom lip.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," I sighed, nipping at her neck. "You're such a tease. Don't think I didn't notice those noises earlier."

"What ever do you mean, Edward?" she attempted to laugh, but my nipping was causing her to breathe heavier with each word.

"Harder, Rosalie?" I mimicked her words from earlier, using the breathy whine she'd accompanied it with. I looked at her pointedly and scoffed. "Are you fucking serious?"

That was it. She burst into laughter, finally unable to keep up her facade of innocence any longer.

"Those noises are for _me_, Bella," I growled, pulling her legs up one at a time to wrap around my waist. "Only me." With those words, I pushed myself inside of her, watching with glee as her laughter dissolve into the noises I had longed to hear her make since I watched Rosalie stretching out her hamstrings.

I shoved into the wall, kneading at her ass. _God, I love me some ass. _ She sighed loudly, clutching onto my slippery shoulders as she adjusted her position to get more comfortable. She was already so wet, the moisture from the shower combined with her own essence slipping down our thighs with each thrust.

"Ah, oh yes, Edward…right there!" she moaned, her words matching the exact ones from earlier. Her head lolled forward onto my shoulder as her short nails scraped over the top of my back. I would have laughed had I not been so far gone. But I was. I could feel every heartbeat, her wild pulse clenching around my cock, enveloping it in her warmth.

Her lips latched onto my neck as her fingers pulled at the bottom of my hair, yanking my head backwards. I loved that she lost herself in the sensations so much that she wasn't even aware of how rough we were being with one another. She bit into my shoulder as her orgasm ripped through her. Her steady clenching became erratic, squeezing me into oblivion as she continued to ride it out. Unable to prolong my erection any longer, I succumbed to my own climax, shooting into Bella with one last forceful thrust.

Completely spent and feeling the combined stress from practice and our shower sexing, I unwrapped Bella's legs and placed her back on the ground. As I let go, Bella's knees buckled and she fell to the ground, sprawled out against the wet tile.

"Oh my God, Bella. Are you okay?" I crouched down to help her back up, hoping that she wasn't hurt. But she was just laughing. _Typical, ridiculous Bella._

"That was incredible," she sighed as I pulled her back to standing, allowing her to lean against my chest for support.

"Clearly, I laughed, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "You can't even stand." She tilted her head upwards, resting her chin on my chest looking completely sated but rolled her eyes for effect. _Such a tyrant._ Ignoring her cheeky expression, I leaned behind me and grabbed the shampoo, poured some onto her head, and worked it into a lather. I massaged her scalp, making her purr like a kitten. We finished our shower in silence, occasionally cleaning one another's hard to reach areas. Even after we were completely clean, Bella continued to stall and rub her tiny hands over my chest and shoulders.

We clearly didn't get enough alone time. I wrapped my arms around her waist, allowing my hands to rest on the small of her back, just above the swell of her ass, and pulled her close. She reached up on her toes and tipped her head upwards, begging me to kiss her. I obliged, realizing that we had yet to kiss one another today, sadly. I brought my lips down to meet hers. The kiss was slow and hot and wet, mixed with steam and water. But as her hands started wandering again, I had to pull away.

I had big plans for us.

"I love you," she sighed, leaning against my chest again as I turned the water off.

She loved me. I would still never get used to hearing her say that. Especially since it took us so fucking long to get there.

_FLASHBACK__  
__  
__I let out a low whistle, checking out the newest cheer recruits. Fuck, they were hot. I'd successfully plowed my way through the whole team last season, and I was definitely in need of some untouched ass.__  
__  
__"Checking out the goods?" Emmett said, smacking my ass. He was always too pumped up before practices. __  
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__"Absolutely. There are at least ten new girls who are going to be added to my long list by the end of the season. Mm, mm, mm…"__  
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__Practice went by quickly, especially with the copious amounts of new eye candy. I made sure to flash each one of them my best grin and eye fuck whoever was looking my way. That was pretty much the maximum amount of effort required for getting pussy of any kind. I mean, Jesus, I was the quarterback. I had never had to work for ass in my life and never would.__  
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__Until HER. __  
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__I spotted her stretching off to the side, and fuck me sideways if she wasn't the most flexible girl I'd ever seen. And I'd seen a lot of girls—most of them cheerleaders—so that was really saying something. She was gorgeous, too, in a sort of understated way that I'd never really appreciated before. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun, allowing a few stray hairs to escape around her face. Oh, that face. I was completely entranced. She had full, pouty lips that just begged to suck my cock, and if I had my way…they'd be doing that shortly.__  
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__So, after practice finished, I headed in her direction. Hell, I didn't even know her name, but I wanted to…badly. However, I was stopped mid way by a few of the other prospects I'd thrown my fuck-me eyes at halfway. They all stopped to introduce themselves to me, wanting me to know their names and slipping their numbers into my hand when they thought the other girls weren't looking. As soon as they dispersed, I realized that she was already gone. She had left without introducing herself to me. I stopped an annoyingly clingy blonde, who I'd fucked a few months earlier to get the gossip—the only thing she was good for.__  
__  
__"Hey, Rachel." I grabbed her arm just before she stepped into the locker room.__  
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__"Edward!" she gushed. "How are you?"__  
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__"Uhh, good…" I ran my hand through my sweaty hair, hoping I could wrap up this conversation as quickly as possible. She wasn't even a good lay. No need to give her false hope. "I actually had a really quick question for you?"__  
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__She batted her eyelashes, in what I assumed she thought was a seductive manner, but she really just looked like she had something stuck in her eye. "Anything…" she purred.__  
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__"Who's the new brunette?" I nodded my head in the direction that the girl had been stretching by herself in.__  
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__Rachel crinkled her nose like I smelled offensive (which, well, I probably did since it was August in Phoenix after an hour long practice) and shook her head. "Ugh, Bella?"__  
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__"I don't know…maybe?" I growled, completely frustrated that Rachel was a moron. Why did she have to be the only one available for questioning?__  
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__"Off in the corner by herself? Really dowdy looking?"__  
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__Dowdy looking? That wasn't how I would describe her, but at least we were finally talking about the same person. Bella—the perfect name for such a beautiful girl. "Yeah, what's her deal?" I asked, trying not to sound too interested.__  
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__"She's such a weirdo. She didn't even want to be on the squad," Rachel complained. "She's just an out of practice gymnast who needed some extra cash to pay for school. I'm sure Coach just took pity on her. She's not even cute!"__  
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__I disagreed completely with that statement. But I didn't need to tell Rachel about that quite yet. "She's a student?" I was genuinely curious. If she was in school, she was young. Maybe TOO young. Damn it.__  
__  
__"Yeah. She's like super smart, or something. She's getting ANOTHER degree. Who needs another degree? I mean, seriously…that's just ridiculous. If you've already graduated from college, why would you bother to go back? It's just so stupid…" Rachel rambled on, but my mind had already moved forward. __  
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__She had already graduated. She was getting a master's in something. Perfect. Age range approved. Problem taken care of.__  
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__Except, I had another problem…one that I had never encountered before. She apparently wasn't interested. I had no idea how to respond. I wanted THAT girl. And she didn't even look at me. How was that even possible? I was Edward fucking Cullen.__  
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__Feeling cordial, I waited for her to exit the locker room (cordial?...try more like creepy stalker, but whatever). She finally came out in a haze of freshly showered smell, making my cock harden just at the scent. That was weird, but I attributed it to pheromones or something…__  
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__"Bella?" I called out as she headed towards the parking lot.__  
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__She whipped around quickly, confused as to who was calling out her name. I jogged over to her. Her expression grew more confused with each step I took towards her.__  
__  
__"Hi, Bella. I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Edward Cullen." I gave her my best grin and held out my hand for her to shake. Cordial enough, right?__  
__  
__Apparently it wasn't because Bella looked at my hand like it had ten forms of venereal diseases on it. She made no move to take it, so I lowered it slowly back to my side. She made no move to speak either, so I just continued. "I'm the starting quarterback for the Cardinals," I explained.__  
__  
__"Yeah, I know who you are." She sounded exasperated as she took a step away from me. I ran around to the other side, blocking her path. She wasn't getting away that easily. "Did you need something else or are you here to harass me?" She put her hands on her hips, her tone filling with impatience and anger.__  
__  
__"Harass you?" I choked out. I was being friendly, and she accused me of harassment! "Look, I don't know what your problem is. I just make a point of getting to know all of the cheerleaders—"__  
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__"Oh, I don't doubt that…" she laughed, mocking me with her tone. She was a feisty one, that was for sure.__  
__  
__"I was thinking that we could spend some time together…outside of practice?"__  
__  
__"Uhh…" she pretended to think hard, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah, I was thinking that I'd rather spend time with people who have brain cells that aren't located in their dicks, but thanks for asking. Edward, was it?" My mouth dropped open. Who did this girl think she was? She was LUCKY to be asked out by me…and she had turned me down and insulted me in one sentence. I was astounded. "Bye," she waved, not even sparing me a glance._

_Watching her fine ass sway as she walked towards the parking lot, I knew I was smitten. Without a doubt, I was going to make Bella mine._

"Why so serious?" she laughed, pulling the corners of my mouth into a lopsided grin, pulling me out of my trip down memory lane.

"No reason. I love you, too," I added, not willing to reminisce with her about how much she hated me. Instead, I leaned forward to kiss her forehead again and wrapped my towel around her still damp body. "Now, get dressed. we have big plans tonight."

"Oo, yes!" she cheered sarcastically, adding a high kick for effect. I groaned; she had really gotten more flexible. _Ah, the perks of dating a cheerleader._ "Christmas in 100 degree weather! Woohoo! What could be better?"

I rolled my eyes at her mock enthusiasm as she wandered off to grab her clothes, looking dejected. Bella had been pouting for the past month, ever since I told her that I was going to head back home to Connecticut to celebrate Christmas with my family. She thought it was unnatural to have such a hot Christmas; she lived for a snowy one, but she had yet to have one. And on top of it all, she was pissed that I wasn't going to be around for Christmas PERIOD. To try and appease her, we were celebrating a week early, so we could exchange gifts and have our own Christmas, just the two of us. Little did she know that I had _so_ much in store for her tonight.

"If you wanted me to cancel our plans for tonight, all you had to do was say so..."

"No!" she interrupted, causing me to break out into an amused smile. "Stop looking at me like that, Edward," she huffed, throwing the towel to the ground to put on her underwear.

"Like what?" I lowered my voice. Ignoring me, Bella simply turned around and bent over to step into her underwear, torturing me with her perfect behind. "Ugh, no fair...you cheated." My hands gravitated towards her ass, pulling her against me before she could pull her underwear all the way up. I put my hands on her thighs and pulled them back down again, balling them in my fist. I smirked as her skin erupted into goose bumps. Slowly, I leaned over and kissed in between her shoulder blades, relishing in the feeling of her holding her breath beneath my lips.

"Edward, we don't have time for-"

"Bella?" I heard a shocked voice call from the entrance of the locker room. _Shit._

At the sound of the voice, Bella straightened up immediately and grabbed her underwear from my hand before pulling her white sundress over her head as quickly as possible. Simultaneously, I pulled on a stray pair of gym shorts from the bottom of my locker. We took a huge step away from one another just as the origin of the perky voice rounded the corner.

"I thought I heard you," he smiled widely, keeping his eyes trained on Bella. His eyes lit up, making his boy-like features looking even younger in her presence. He definitely had puppy dog eyes for Bella. _Don't be a fool, Cullen...you do, too._

"Jake!" Bella called out happily, her panicked features from seconds earlier melting into ones of genuine surprise. "What are you still doing here?"

"Waiting for you..." he lowered his voice suggestively. "Kidding. Coach wanted me to see the doctors about my ankle. They said it looks fine. Just had to ice it for thirty minutes. I'm ready for my shower now, though. What about you?"

"What am I still doing here?" Jake nodded, looking curiously at her hand. She followed his eye line before blushing and holding up the underwear, brazenly displaying her innocent-looking, white panties for Jake to see. "Cullen thought it would be funny to steal my underwear again. It's not!" she scowled, narrowing her eyes at me. _Too close_, she was trying to tell me. _Way too close._

"Your underwear, huh? I'd like to take a look at that myself..." Jake chuckled, taking a large step towards Bella. _Okay, that's enough._ I slammed my locker door shut, tearing Jake's gaze away from the underwear that would fuel his fantasies for the next however many months and bringing his focus on me. "Oh, hey, Edward..." he blushed, his sweaty face turning even redder as he looked between Bella and me.

"21, isn't it a little late for you to be here?" The team called Jake 21, his jersey number...and his age. The kid was some sort of running back prodigy. He graduated both high school and undergrad in three years each, making him one of the youngest pro players in league.

"Just keeping Bella company," he smirked before grabbing a handful of my favorite behind. His hand was over her dress, but her underwear was still in her hand...meaning, Bella wasn't wearing any underwear. And Jake knew that. I saw red. He needed to remove his hands from that ass in the _very_ near future, or he was going to be losing a limb. Bella wasn't phased, though, of course. She just threw her head back and laughed loudly before pinching Jake's cheeks.

"Of course you were, hun." She pressed a loud, wet kiss onto Jake's cheek and put her own hand over his, which was still grabbing her rear, while keeping her eyes trained on me. I tried my very hardest not to hurl Jake into the lockers and pry Bella's lips and hands away from him, but I knew she was just keeping up an image. We had to maintain it, but it was tiresome most of the time.

"Well, I'm hitting the showers." Jake puffed up his chest as he removed his own pads and threw them into his locker. I could see the wheels turning in his mind, whether or not he should strip down in front of Bella. His nerves would have been laughable had he not decided to be brave and strip down, causing Bella's eyes to widen at the sight of his half naked body. His eyes brightened at her glazed over expression, causing my jealousy to spiral out of control, once again. I cleared my throat pointedly before Jake had the good sense to look away and head towards the showers.

"Have a good one, 21," I offered brusquely as he walked past us, happy to be alone with Bella once again. Once Jake was out of earshot and we could hear the water being turned on, Bella sighed and finally put her underwear on. "I thought you checked to see if everyone was gone."

"I did. Forgot to check the physical therapist's office, though. Never again," she promised. "That was almost _really_ bad, Edward."

"I know." I shook my head and threw a clean t-shirt on.

"I'm sorry," she offered, her eyes filled with remorse.

"Don't be sorry. That wasn't your fault. We just have to be more careful."

Bella sat down on the bench and rested her head into her hands. For a second, I thought she had started crying, causing me to panic. Bella _never_ cried. Instead, she straightened up again and took a deep breath before handing me her hairbrush. _Uh oh_. Having her hair brushed was Bella's metaphorical blankie, so to speak. It comforted her and soothed her when she was upset. Apparently her grandmother had loved to brush her hair when she was little and the habit never faded away, even when she reached adulthood. I silently took the brush from her hand and began to detangle the strands with careful strokes.

"I hate this," she finally spoke up. "I hate that we can't just be together. It's such a stupid rule, and I really wish we didn't have to do it." I nodded but didn't offer any words. She knew I felt the exact same way, and I had a feeling that she just needed to vent a little bit. "We're in a committed relationship. That shouldn't be an issue. I shouldn't be able to get fired for being in love. But, I'm only five months away from graduating, and then I'll be a real physical therapist. And we can stop pretending. Five months isn't that long, right?"

"Right." I pushed her hair over her shoulder and leaned down to press a soft kiss to her neck. At the feel of my lips on her skin, Bella tilted her head around to pull me in for a real kiss. It was heated and passionate, as it always is with us, but there was a hint of sadness and longing to it, which unfortunately had started becoming feelings we were more familiar with. They'd be gone soon, though. She wrapped her arms around my neck, raking her fingers through my hair. In the recesses of my mind, I heard the water shut off in the distance and hesitantly removed myself from Bella's grasp. "Don't be sad. Please," I begged. "Tonight is going to be great, okay?" I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before helping her off the bench and gathering her belongings up.

"Can you give me a clue as to what my present is?" she asked, the start of a smile forming on her lips. "You know I hate surprises..."

"This is one surprise that I know you'll be happy with. Is that enough of a clue for you?" I swatted her behind as she stuck out her tongue childishly.

"No," she pouted. "And stop touching my ass, Cullen. Or I'll sue you for harassment." Her gaze was locked over my shoulder, and I knew that she show was back on. We had an audience. "Okay, I'm heading home. You two behave," she said, still staring me down. The corner of my mouth twitched up into a smile and her eyes sparkled. Only a few more hours of waiting until our date tonight.

"You've totally tapped that, haven't you?" Jake laughed, drying the excess water from his hair.

"Oh, yeah," I grinned.

"Lucky bastard," Jake said as he stared wistfully at Bella's retreating figure.

"In your dreams, Cullen," Bella called out from the doorway, flicking us both off without even looking.

After three years of dating, she still kept me on my toes. Her reactions were constantly a surprise-from the first day we met, all the way up until now. I couldn't wait to share my surprise with her at dinner. Hopefully she would be just as excited as I was about it.

_**BPOV**_

"You know they're both staring at us?" Rose, my roommate and best friend, stated more than questioned me. We were set up along the sideline of the football field, getting ready to stretch, as we did at the end of every Cardinal's cheerleading practice. And although I knew exactly which "both" she was referring to, I was feeling feisty and decided to play around with her.

In a fake high-pitched voice that resembled a few of our fellow squad members I teased, "Rose, ye of little faith, it's more than the two of them staring at us."

"Yes, but those two are the only ones you or I care about," she smirked down at me as I laid back onto the soft turf to stretch my legs. With a wink and a sly look, she gestured for me to raise my foot. After she had a firm grip on my ankle, the sly look ventured towards sneaky smile. "That doesn't mean we can't have some fun at their expense though, does it?"

I glanced back quickly, my eyes seeking out the two who were supposedly looking at us. Sure enough, Edward Cullen, the starting quarterback, and Emmett McCarty, one of the HUGE linemen, had their eyes trained on Rose and me in our mass of tangled limbs. Rose and I looked back hungrily, our eyes feasting on their sweaty post-practice bodies. Wasn't it just ironic that we were both dating football players-which was totally against the rules, of course. But I couldn't help it. There was no resisting Edward Cullen.

But as tore my gaze away from the gorgeousness that was my boyfriend and back to the cheer practice, I noticed my eyes were not the only ones focused on him. _Mine!_ My internal voice growled. I could almost feel the claws breaking through my knuckles. Clearly, I'd been watching way too much Wolverine recently. Another hazard of dating a football player..._oh, boys and their superheroes._

So, with my mind filled with jealous ravings I began to grunt..._loudly._ "Harder, Rose," I moaned out, receiving a wicked smile from my roommate in return. Did I happen to mention that she was bombshell hot, and if I had any lesbian tendencies they would be for her? _Yeah._ Edward may have been privy to that fact, too. Rose bit her lip "in concentration" and pushed my ankle towards my shoulder, bringing my knee almost flush against my chest as she rested her weight against my shoe.

"Ah...oh yeah, right there," I roughly moaned out again, loud enough for everyone to hear. Rose's eyes darted to the boys' place on the field as she checked to see if our little game had the proper effect.

"He's practically panting, Bella," she whispered as I traded my legs out to stretch my other hamstring. "And, heading this way."

I tried to hide the satisfied smile I felt spreading across my face as he passed by me and seductively (and brightly) sang out his greeting.

"Ladies," he crooned, making my body flush with just one word. The smile dissipated quickly, though, as my least favorite, screeching harpies, Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, made an appearance. "Edward, Edward!" the twin blonde skanks-both of whom Edward had previously screwed-yelled.

I tried to block out their conversation, to no avail. Blocking out Jessica and Lauren was easy enough. However, blocking the smooth, seductive tones of Edward's exaggerated flirting was a bit harder to do. Although we had been together for three years, the skank brigade was still able to get on my last nerve. I _really_ hated that he had touched them at all. But even worse was that they had touched him. _Gag me._

Exemplifying their true whoreness, the pair of them giggled and started feeling him up and commenting on parts of him that belonged to _me_...only me. As if that weren't bad enough, he moved his own hands to grab their asses _underneath_ their skirts. I was pissed. He knew I hated that. Because I had it on good authority that Edward loved my ass the best. _As he should._

"B, don't do it." Rose whispered into my ear as she moved my leg and gripped my elbow to prevent me from lunging at them.

"Do what? I have no idea what you're talking about..." I said, feigning innocence as I raised my hands in a defensive gesture. She shook her head and pressed my shoulder even more firmly to the turf. Rose knew me all too well-two more seconds and I would have clawed those bitches eyes out and staked my claim...not to mention lost my job. So instead of that brilliant plan, I did what any mature adult-who happens to be hiding their relationship-would do.

"Pompous asshole," I muttered as Edward walked by, taking out my irritation at not being able to acknowledge our relationship in public on him, sending Rose into a fit of giggles.

"Well done, Bella. But you know what I always say..." Rose smiled over her shoulder as she flounced past me on her way to the women's locker room.

I finished one of her favorite lines. "Revenge is sweet and non fattening." It was an old Alfred Hitchcock quote that Rose governed her life by. And in the mood for some no-fat fun, I continued to stretch by myself, waiting for Emmett to leave the locker room so that I'd know Edward was alone.

Sneaking into the players' locker room was easy. Almost everyone bolted from the stadium as soon as they possibly could. So, after grabbing a change of clothes from the girls' locker room, I ventured to seek out Edward. I stepped into the players' locker room quietly and side stepped to my right, pressing my body flush against the wall-just in case someone hadn't left. After listening for a few moments, I deduced that it was safe. The only sounds I heard were the spattering of water against the tiles in the shower room.

I snuck down the hall, past the lockers, and saw that Edward was by himself under the stream of water. He looked mouthwatering. Seeing the water running freely over his toned, naked, and absolutely delicious body had me very near panting. I shed my clothes into a neat pile, placing my clean clothes next to them, and tiptoed behind him. The sheer beauty of his glistening skin and toned muscles caused me to pause, adding even more heat to my flushed body.

Carefully, I pressed my bare breasts against him, breathing softly into the rivets of his defined back muscles. I attempted to continue my teasing from the field, but it was no use. He was already too worked up. Before I could realize what he was doing, I was pressed against the cool tiles, warm water cascading between Edward and my body.

"Those noises are for _me_, Bella," Edward growled as he pulled my legs up to lock around his body. "Only me." As he spoke, he pushed his _very_ prominent erection inside of me. Suddenly my body was on sensory overload. The cool tiles combined with the warmth of Edward against me-and inside of me-left me unable to respond. It didn't matter, though. I answered him with my loud moans, expressing the immense pleasure as the sound reverberated and echoed in the small stall. Soon, the pleasure spiraled out of control-my pent up frustration from our teasing increasing with each motion as I felt as my walls tightened around him and my wetness run down our legs.

Edward gripped onto my ass with one hand and steadied us with his other against the wall. The raw emotion combined with my earlier stretching, from practice, had me fully warmed up and wanting to participate more actively. I looked around, wondering where I could get the best leverage from. The only places I could find were Edward's mess of sexy hair or his defined shoulders. Out of fear of ripping the lustrous copper strands from his scalp, I settled on gripping onto his broad shoulders.

"Ah, oh yes, Edward…right there!" I breathed out as he increased his pace. I was almost positive I would have fingertip shaped bruises across my ass in the morning with the force he was driving into me and holding me in place, but I wasn't complaining. Instead, I relished in the feeling of him being so domineering. I rested my head against his shoulder and turned my face to breath in his scent, my hands wandering down his slick back then back across the top of his shoulder blades, happy to let him to the work for a little bit.

I lost myself in the feeling of him and quickly found myself on the edge of my orgasm. With one final thrust, I gave into one of the most powerful climaxes I'd ever experienced. Edward's followed closely behind mine. Exhausted, he pried my legs from around his body and went to set me down. Unfortunately, my muscles were fatigued from hours of practice and our recent shower workout, and my ass found the hard tile of the floor before I could steady myself.

"Oh my God, Bella. Are you okay?" Edward said, crouching down next to me, looking extremely concerned. The seriousness of his expression was absurd. He looked like I had just been hit my a car and he was holding my hand while we waiting on the paramedics. I couldn't help myself...I burst into giggles.

"That was incredible," I admitted to his shocked face as he pulled me back up on my feet.

"Clearly," Edward mumbled mostly to himself as he wrapped his arm around my waist to help me stay steady. "You can't even stand." Slowly, his face changed from concerned to amused. He looked awfully proud of himself. _As he should. That was damn good._

We spent the next ten minutes washing each other and just enjoying the few quiet times we were able to have with one another. I didn't want it to end. Edward wasn't going to be here for Christmas, and I would. And I'd be alone. As we got out of the shower, Edward reminded me _again_ of the fact that he wouldn't be around for Christmas by bringing up our _date_ tonight. The date we had to have because Edward was going home to spend Christmas with his family in snowy Connecticut. _A white Christmas. My dream!_ He would be enjoying snow and hot chocolate while I was in the scorching desert. I swore it was hot enough in Phoenix to bake the fucking Christmas turkey on the sidewalk outside my apartment. Needless to say, I wasn't pleased-and I hadn't made that a secret from Edward.

My face must have been showing the disappointment I was feeling about his impending departure because he just laughed and said, "If you wanted me to cancel our plans for tonight, all you had to do was say so..."

"No!" I practically screamed, not willing to lose the little time we could spend together as a couple. Seeing my obvious desire to spend more time with him, Edward was now giving me that damn, sexy crooked. That boy could make anything look sexy. "Stop looking at me like that, Edward," I scolded him as I unwrapped the towel, dropping it to the floor to get ready to put my clothes back on.

"Like what?" he cooed at me. In true mature, adult fashion, I turned and bent over, giving him his favorite view-my ass on full display as I stepped into my panties. "Ugh, no fair...you cheated," he whined. And then I felt him. _Edward won't be denied..._His hands gripped my hips and pulled me back against his dick-which was magically hard again. His hands ghosted down my hips and quickly pulled off my panties. _Guess we're not getting dressed yet..._

Just as I began to remind him of our plans, a voice rand out from the door of the locker room. "Bella?" _Guess we ARE getting dressed. _Fuck, I did not need a pink slip for Christmas. Definitely not. Not wanting whoever it was to catch me completely nude (which would leave me with no wiggle room for an excuse as to why the fuck I was alone in the guys' locker room with Edward-fuck!), I snatched my panties-which were still in Edward's hand-and yanked my dress over my head. Thank God I had worn a dress today...no buttoning jeans or fiddling with a shirt.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward hurriedly pulling on some random clothes-and by clothes I meant gym shorts sans any boxers. _Um, can you say yum? _It hadn't escaped my attention that both Edward and I had failed to put on underwear.

"I thought I heard you," the deep voice said, rounding the corner and finally coming into view.

"Jake!" I screeched out in a too high, falsetto voice that reeked of fake surprise. "What are you still doing here?"

"Waiting for you..." He lowered his voice suggestively, his eyes trained on me. "Kidding. Coach wanted me to see the doctors about my ankle. They said it looks fine. Just had to ice it for thirty minutes. I'm ready for my shower now, though. What about you?"

"What am I still doing here?" I stumbled with the words as I noticed that he was focused on my hand...which were still holding the panties that I had snatched back from Edward. It clicked. _Brilliant. Testosterone-filled boys and their love of panties._ "Cullen thought it would be funny to steal my underwear again. It's not!" I growled and glared over at Edward. If he hadn't gotten greedy and let me finished getting dressed, we'd be on our way out instead of almost getting caught. We definitely needed to be more careful.

"Your underwear, huh? I'd like to take a look at that myself..." Jake chuckled as he strode towards me. I could feel the heat and jealousy coming from where Edward was standing. The slamming of his locker door being shut reaffirmed what I already knew.

Then, and only then, did Jake notice Edward's presence. "Oh, hey, Edward..." He turned ten shades of red-something I was known for doing-as his eyes darted between Edward and me.

"21, isn't it a little late for you to be here?" Edward said gruffly using Jake's nickname, 21-his jersey number and age. Despite Edward's current aversion to the poor boy, I knew he really respected him. When he first got drafted, Edward talked about nothing else for weeks. In fact, the whole team had been stoked to get the child prodigy on the field. However, that didn't stop them from teasing the poor kid unmercifully. He took it all in stride, though. Graduating from high school and college in only six years probably prepped him for a lifetime of mockery. But he was mega smart and uber talented, so I didn't think he took most of it to heart.

"Just keeping Bella company," Jake responded coolly, purposefully showing off for his own personal idol, the QB1. He smirked before grabbing playfully on my ass. _Edward's favorite ass._ _Abort, abort! This could end BADLY. _I slyly snuck a look at the two men. Jake was living it up, enjoying touching my ass and reveling in the fact that I hadn't put my panties on. I wasn't stupid enough to think that he couldn't feel that. Edward, on the other hand, didn't look so happy. His face told it all. He was _pissed_ and about two seconds away from pummeling the rookie into pulp.

Times like these made me glad that we had the skank brigade. To diffuse what could have been an explosive situation, I did what those whores would have done. I smiled, relishing the attention and threw my head back laughing-the whole "boys will be boys" routine-even though every second his hands remained on me made me cringe internally.

"Of course you were, hun," I said as I pressed my lips to Jake's cheek while placing my hand over his to move it off my ass. As I extracted myself from Jake's grabby hands, I stared at Edward, letting him know that he had to reign in the anger, which was written all over his pretty face.

"Well, I'm hitting the showers." Jake made a show of poking out his chest as he took off his pads. Then, Jake turned to me-and with a smug/terrified look on his face-stripped. Like, butt-booty-ball-nekkid (as my mother, Renee, would say). Not to say that Jake wasn't a good looking kid, but I was awed that he had the audacity to bare all and then grin at me. _A kid in a fucking candy store. Now none of us have any underwear on._

Edward's face filled with jealousy and anger as he cleared his throat and looked at Jake sternly. The rookie got the point, turned to leave, and strutted-yes strutted-to the shower.

After grumbling about almost being caught, I made Edward sooth my nerves-which was lovely, by the way. I had told him about my nana brushing my hair when I was little, and he knew that it calmed me, so he brushed my hair gently without a word. It was great and incredibly relaxing but not enough to hold back what had been brewing in my head.

"I hate this. I hate that we can't just be together. It's such a stupid rule, and I really wish we didn't have to do it." I rambled off the complaints, mentally slashing a line through the list I had built inside my brain. I knew the situation bothered him too, but he just stood by quietly. So I continued down my nag list. "We're in a committed relationship. That shouldn't be an issue. I shouldn't be able to get fired for being in love. But, I'm only five months away from graduating, and then I'll be a real physical therapist. And we can stop pretending. Five months isn't that long, right?"

Edward agreed and promised that the wonderful night ahead of us would help take my mind off of my worries, but he refused to give me any details. And though he knew that I detested surprises, he assured me that I would love this one. I thought of trying other tactics to get him to squeal, but hearing the water turn off reminded me that we weren't alone.

"And stop touching my ass, Cullen," I quipped. "Or I'll sue you for harassment." My voice carried back to Jake, and I hoped it was filled with as much annoyance as I was currently feeling. _I hate 'playing the part'._ "Okay, I'm heading home. You two behave!" I teased, heading towards the door, each step bringing me closer to being able to breathe normally.

"You've totally tapped that, haven't you?" I heard Jake ask, sounding like he was talking to his idol-which he probably was.

"Oh, yeah," a very confident Edward shot back. _Of course. _And why wouldn't he sound confident? He's slept with almost the _whole_ squad.

"Lucky bastard." Again with the idolizing. _Come on, just get on your knees and say you're not worthy._

"In your dreams, Cullen," I tossed out sidely, giving both men the finger without even looking back. After three years of dating, I thought I'd be used to putting up a facade, but I wasn't. I hated it and tried hard to quell my irritation. Unfortunately, I lacked the resolve not to have the reactions I do.

As I crossed the parking lot, I couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt a little nauseous, and I didn't know what to make of it-or whether it was good trepidation or a feeling of unease. Whatever it was, it wasn't going away. _Stupid surprises! Stupid desert Christmases! And stupid hidden relationships!_

**A/N: What'd you think chickees? Do you want me to post up more, please let me know?**_  
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	2. Chapter 2 The Date

**A/N: Okay y'all thanks so much for the reviews you gave on chappie 1. Once again, this is a collaboration I did with lexiecullen17 for the Twi Fic gift exchange for MrsAC. I hope you like what's coming next. :)****  
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****Please leave me some review love, since I'm posting a day early-so you could have a chapter this week as I go on vacation tomorrow...wish me luck the hubs and 4 kids all together 24/7 for the next week :)****  
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****As always SM owns the Twilight stuff I just get to have the words in these chapters.****  
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**__**-BPOV**_**-**

I made it home quickly from the field house. I wanted nothing more than to be ready as soon as Edward arrived. He was leaving to go home to Connecticut and spend Christmas with his family. _Yeah, all white and snowy, and perfect...while I bake in the Arizona sun. _Don't get me wrong, I loved Arizona I really did. I grew up here and even stayed to attend college at ASU. But even as a child, I would beg my mom, Renee, for snow for Christmas. Hell, I'd even asked Santa for it, year in and year out. _,I'm positive I had been on the good list and that jolly fucker never came through.._

I had my hopes raised earlier this year when Renee had told me she wanted to move somewhere new and adventurous. She squealed and I grimaced when she said it-Florida. Geez Louise, of course she'd move to a place hotter than hell where we could _"spend Christmas on the beach, Bells."_. Ugh, hot, warm, dry, and tan Christmases were not what people caroled about.

When she had called earlier this week and invited me down for the holiday, I had to think long and hard about it-if long and hard was about 3.5 seconds of my head shaking "no," before I verbally responded.

"Sorry, mom, I have a lot of work to do if I still plan on graduating this year." This was-and always had been- my fall back plan on getting out of stuff. Everyone that knew me knew that school came first.

"All right, Bella. But, honey, promise me that you won't be alone." I knew she was fishing for information. She was in full on mom mode, wanting to feel like she was being slick by off-handedly asking if I was seeing someone. And as much as it hurt me to continue lying to her, I had to. As my grandmother used to say, Renee couldn't hold water-meaning, she couldn't keep a secret. And if she, for one second, knew that I was dating Edward-a young, handsome, wealthy, star quarterback-It would be on Entertainment Tonight before I could say "White Christmas."

"I promise, mom, Rose is staying here too," I admitted, and that was the truth. Rose and Emmett were going to spend a quiet Christmas together while everyone else would be out of town.

As if she had heard my thoughts about her, Rose appeared at the doorway of our apartment. She eyed my tense face sceptically before an evil grin spread across her beautiful face. "C'mon, bitch, let's get you ready for your date," she yelled into the hallway. I was sure if our neighbors had not been introduced-and personally witnessed her behavior-prior, they wouldn't for a second believe she spoke like a sailor, truck driver...ahhh, hell pick your the descriptive, it'd work.

"What are you talking about, Rose? Don't you have your own date to get ready for?" I queried, and the wicked grin spread further.

"I am ready, silly girl," she answered. Then, to drive her point home, she did a quick twirl, showing off her Tinkerbell pajama pants and pink camisole trimmed with green lace. Her silky blonde hair, which was usually flat ironed straight, was clasped into a high ponytail. I stared at her, confused, as I inventoried her wardrobe choices. "We're having a movie night here, and you-" She pointed her slender manicured finger in my direction, "are going home with your man...or wherever. Just not here, unless you want your virginal ears to bleed." Her wild laughter rang out and echoed through the hallway as one of our nosier neighbors had cracked their door and peered out.

Mrs. Johnson was the stereotypical cat lady on our floor. She knew every bodies business like it was nobody's business. Rose waved and gave the old lady a wink. The old woman's face turned a fierce red at being caught leering and slammed her door shut, mumbling something along the lines of "wild harlots" and such.

"You're gonna give her a heart attack one day," I admonished as I passed Rose, who was now laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. She waved me off as she closed the door, locked it, and headed to the breakfast table, which was covered in shopping bags. There were so many that I could barely see the table. Amidst the throngs was the unmistakable pink bag from Victoria's Secret.

I cocked an eyebrow at her as she took her seat and took a sip from her glass, which I knew held Sweet Tea. _Because duh, Bella, every southern girl drinks sweet tea. _Southern girl my ass, Rosalie may have been from the south, but she was a city girl through and through. In fact, imagining her sitting on some huge front porch sippin' her tea sent me into a fit of giggles. I shook my head to rid myself of those meandering thoughts and once again focused on the plethora of bags.

As I opened my mouth to question her, she explained. "He's leaving for Christmas, Bella. You're heartbroken, and don't try to deny it-you've been bitching and wallowing in self pity all week. I figured I'd give you a few of your gifts early." She shrugged, and the compulsion to hug her took over. I hopped into her lap, hugging her fiercely. She snorted before finishing her admission. "You might want to hold on to that gratitude until I show you what I bought." The suspicion rose, and I was suddenly fearful of what she expected me to flounce around in.

"What did you do? And when did you have time? And please tell me I won't look like a stripper?" I fired off the questions rapidly. While Rose was tall and statuesque, I was shorter and things that accentuated her curves tended to make me look slutty. She glared at me, insulted that I would even insinuate that she would allow me to go in public resembling an exotic dancer.

Instead of answering the onslaught of questions, she opened a Macy's bag and revealed a a deep metallic blue bubble hemmed dress. It looked like it would probably hit mid thigh, and it was exquisite. The gratitude I'd been holding back overflowed. I nearly tackled Rose with all of my enthusiasm, and the gorgeous dress fell to the table as she teetered on the edge of tumbling over.

"Gah, I've got to tell Emmett to stop teaching you those tackles," she chortled as she wrapped me in an embrace.

"But, Rose, when did you...I mean how..." I began again with the questions that were bubbling in my mind and overflowing with appreciation at the awesome friend I had found in her.

Again, she deflected by trying to hurry me along. "Go shower so we can get started...that is, if you need _.another._ one." She winked, leaving me completely shocked. That heifer winked at me. Oh lord, I was never gonna live this down. If she'd told Emmett about Edward's and my shower time, the amount of jokes I would hear would be out of control. Before I could absorb what had just happened, she added, "While you were shower schmexing, I thought I'd pick up a few things at the mall."

_.Great_.. Oh well, at least I knew I would look fabulous for my date tonight. Edward wouldn't know what hit him.

After what seemed like hours worth of preparations, I was finally ready to go out. I couldn't believe that Edward would be leaving me alone in just a matter of days, and I couldn't wait to make the most of our remaining time together. I heard a rap at the door and headed back into my room to stuff Edward's presents into my purse. I was incredibly nervous to give them to him. Three years together felt like a huge relationship milestone, and I wasn't sure what he'd gotten me in return. Sure, Edward ._loved_. to spend ridiculous amount of money on me, but I couldn't give him anything back like that. No, I had to be a bit more creative in the gifts department. I could only hope that he'd enjoy them.

I walked out of my bedroom to greet Edward, only to be greeted with the sight of a pajama clad Emmett pressing Rosalie up against our front door. ._No wonder Mrs. Johnson calls us harlots.._ And as soon as I thought the word "harlots," Rosalie put herself into action, gripping the back of Emmett's head and pulling him close to her, most likely shoving her tongue down his throat. Lovely.

"Wow," Edward called, dragging my eyes away from the intertwined pair. I smiled as my eyes met his appreciative ones. They raked over my newly dressed form, and I could see him getting aroused from across the room. I couldn't help it, the magnet that pulled me towards him led me into his waiting arms, quickly forgetting about the peep show that was probably going on right behind us.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself, Cullen." I smiled and tilted my head up, motioning that I needed to be kissed. Edward barely hesitated before bringing his lips down to mine and pressing softly, showing me the side of him that no one else got to see-the gentleman. I wasn't really in the mood for him tonight, though-especially not with my newly purchased lingerie waiting patiently to be seen. To rev him up, I pulled a Rosalie and gripped the back of Edward's head, tugging on his messy hair to guide him back to my mouth. His eyes widened slightly before his smug half-grin took over his face. His hands wrapped firmly around my waist, and-in my head-I started counting down the hours until they could be pressed against my bare skin, with no silky interference. Not that the dress wasn't lovely-it was-but I had a feeling that it was going to end up in a pile, ripped somewhere in the middle of Edward's hallway tonight.

I deepened our kiss, trying hard not to moan into his mouth when we were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly. I extracted myself from Edward's grip and looked up confused.

"Geez, you two, get a room." I laughed as Emmett admonished us, seeing him wipe the remnants of Rosalie's lip balm from his mouth.

"Oh, we will." Edward winked, earning an obnoxious high-five from Emmett. _.Boys will be boys_.. "But first we have a reservation to make." He grinned and held out his arm for me to grab, escorting me like the proper gentleman he tried to be for me. _.God, I love this man,._ I thought as I took his arm. A rush of warmth flowed through me as I reveled in my love for Edward. He may not have been able to be around for Christmas, but he was doing his best to make it good for me. I was all about having fun tonight. And I was resolved that there would be no sadness in our Christmas celebration.

_**..-EPOV**_**-**..

I sat at the secluded table in the dimly lit restaurant, tugging at my tie awkwardly. I felt like I was being choked to death...or maybe that was just a result of my nerves from the present burning a hole in my left coat pocket. Bella looked beautiful, of course. She _always_ looked beautiful, but it was stressing me out and distracting me more than usual tonight. My eyes dragged down to the necklace adorning her delicate collarbone-the one I'd given her last Christmas.

"You look gorgeous tonight, Bella," I commented as she wrapped her lips around her fork, driving me insane with lust-per usual.

"Edward, we're celebrating tonight. You're going to get laid-you don't need to butter me up," she said after swallowing her bite.

I rolled my eyes, chuckling at the ease with which she was able to help me get rid of my nerves. I was suddenly feeling a lot less nervous. This was Bella. She would love anything I got her, and I had a feeling that she would love my Christmas present even more. I didn't know why I was freaking myself out. I was Edward fucking Cullen. I didn't get nervous.

"Thanks. I was really concerned about that." I winked and rested my hand over hers on the table. She wrapped her fingers around mine and squeezed gently.

"I'm sure you were," she scoffed. She continued to eat happily, moaning with delight at each bite of her fillet. I shifted, her present falling forward in my pocket, making me acutely aware of its presence once again. After finishing, she laid her fork down and smiled devilishly. My eyes brightened and my heart quickened. This was it.

"So, I have a _.few._ presents for you." She took a large sip of her wine and smirked, flipping her hair coyly behind her shoulder. I leaned forward, unable to resist her charms. I had never been able to, in truth.

"Really?" I raised my eyebrow and gave her my signature half-grin. Her eyes glazed over for a second, and I could feel her breath fan across my face. _.Yup, you've still got it. Damn, you're good._.

She shook her head, turning slightly red in her flustered state. "Stop that, Edward," she warned. I knew better than to mess with fire. Bella could burn me pretty hard if she wanted to.

"Sorry, baby." I lifted our still joined hands to my lips and pressed a light kiss over her knuckles. "I'm listening now."

And then, Bella was all business. She leaned back, smiling widely before reaching down into her bag and pulling out three wrapped boxes. She pushed the first towards me, and I opened it quickly, quirking an eyebrow at her the whole time. Three presents? Why would she get me that many? Hopefully my present would be received well.

I removed the wrapping paper and couldn't control the snort-like laugh that escaped my mouth at seeing her "gift." I held up the soft knee brace and smiled skeptically at her.

"Don't give me that look, Edward Cullen. You ._need_. one of those badly. And as your personal physical therapist, I'm telling you that you need to be wearing that at least an hour a day."

I leaned over and kissed her on her mouth softly. "Thank you, baby. You're right. The team trainer has been telling me to get one for weeks."

"I know, but you've been too high and mighty to buy one yourself. So, now you have no excuse." I rolled my eyes and sighed. It was true. I'd been avoiding buying one for weeks. They made me feel like the biggest dork alive, but if I wanted to continue playing at my current intensity, I would need to wear one for an hour a day-as Bella had said.

Nervously, she pushed the second present towards me. It was a small box, and I unwrapped it slowly. I opened the box, and on it was an index card that read:

**.You get to unwrap your second present at home. In private. You're welcome. xx, B.**.

I laughed loudly, not even trying to suppress my amusement at her note. My cock stood up to thank Bella for her thoughtfulness. She definitely must have known what my response would be because instead of kissing me outright, she leaned towards me and ran her hand delicately up my thigh and over my crotch. I made a wheezing noise as all of the air whooshed out of my chest. Now all I wanted to do was throw her down on the table, other customers be damned.

"You are _.so._ welcome," she sighed, leaning back to kiss me again. "And last, but not least-" She pushed the present toward me, and she looked nervous as I began to open it. Sitting in my hand was a photo album, filled with pictures of us over the past few years. I flipped through slowly, my finger trailing over each picture with obvious reverence. This was the most thoughtful gift I had ever received.

Bella and I never took photos together for fear of being outted. We were allowed limited press photos, and the only ones in private were with Rosalie and Emmett respectively. However, these were media pictures she had gone through-snapshots from paparazzi of us "covertly" looking at one another. The entire album ended with one that I took a few months ago up at my summer house in Tahoe of us kissing at sunset out on the back porch. Underneath the picture she wrote:

_.Dear Edward, Merry Christmas, baby. Soon we can be together in public. But for now, this is enough. We know how much we love one another, and it's beyond me how the rest of the world doesn't. A picture says more than 1,000 words. I love you. xx, Bella._.

I was so tempted to push out my chair out and drag her home to fuck her senseless, but I wanted to give her her present first. But after that was done, there was no way we were making it all the way back to my apartment. Oh well, it wasn't like this would be the first time my Porsche would be getting some action from us.

I flagged over the waiter and slipped him my credit card, knowing that I should probably take care of the bill beforehand.

"I love you, too." I leaned forward and kissed her, deepening the kiss quickly, thrusting my tongue into her mouth. She grabbed the back of my head and moaned into my mouth, clearly just as urgent to "celebrate" as I was.

"Mmmkay," she groaned, pulling away sadly. "Your turn." Her eyes brightened as she wiped her lip gloss from my mouth. I tried to hold still, but I couldn't help but smile. We were just so perfect together.

I began solemnly, "Bella, I just wanted to preface my present with an apology. I know how much it sucks to be separated for Christmas, especially since it's your favorite holiday."

"Edward, it's-" she attempted to interrupt.

"No, Bella. Let me say this. You're sad. You've _been_ sad about me leaving for weeks now. And I know you well enough that you didn't need to say anything to make me understand that. And I'm sorry if you felt like I was abandoning you. It's just that my family is incredibly close and last year they came here. They're like you-they can't understand a Christmas without snow or hot chocolate or caroling. So I'm sorry."

Bella's lip quivered slightly as she leaned forward to capture my lips in a sweet kiss. "Edward, thank you for saying that. I would never want to make you feel guilty about spending the holidays with your family, but I really appreciate you saying that. Really."

I sucked in a breath-this was the moment of truth-and reached into my pocket, pulling out a plain, white envelope and pushed it towards Bella. Her eyebrows raised up into her forehead, her face looking perplexed. She nervously reached for the envelope and opened it up slowly. I waited in silence as she pulled the contents out.

She gasped loudly, her eyes searching out mine frantically and without focus. A single tear ran down her cheek, and I couldn't help but break into a huge smile. My smile spurred hers as she grabbed her purse and pulled me out of my chair, pressing her body to mine.

"Seriously?" she whispered.

"My family couldn't be more excited to spend Christmas with you." I leaned down and picked the tickets into JFK Airport off the table and put them back into the envelope. It wouldn't do us any good to loose those now. Bella would be flying with me back to Connecticut for our holiday break. I smiled just thinking about it. She was frantic with excitement, and she looked incredibly relieved that we were actually going to be spending the holiday together. I knew that Christmas was her absolute favorite.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Edward," she said, more tears running down her face as she peppered small kisses to my jawline and chin. "Best boyfriend ever," she growled as her hands started to wander lower. It was then that our waiter reappeared-._thank God._. I signed the bill quickly, left a generous tip, and pulled Bella outside to the valet as quickly as possible.

With Bella's arms still wrapped around my waist, she reached one hand into my front pocket and pushed her hand into the side of my cock to retrieve the car ticket. "Bella!" I admonished her as she giggled and handed the ticket to one of the valets, who scurried off quickly. As Bella giggled louder, pressing her hand into my groin (and knowing full well what she was doing to me!), the other valet raised his eyebrow and caught my eye. In that second, I realized that he recognized me, and I needed to prevent my girlfriend from molesting me in public. Heaven forbid he call the paparazzi or something equally as heinous. Reluctantly, I removed Bella's grabby hands from my junk. I nodded my head in the direction of the valet who was still looking at us oddly.

Bella pouted but stepped away slightly, all the while giving me covert glances and biting her lip in the seductive manner she knew drove me crazy.

"Here you are, Mr. Cullen," the valet called, stepping out of my baby-my candy apple red Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet with a cream interior (the Arizona Cardinals' colors, of course).

"Thanks." I slipped a $50 bill into the valet's hand and quickly slid in, slamming the door shut behind me. I was ready to get this show on the road. Bella agreed. As soon as I had peeled out of the restaurant parking lot, her hands went back to my crotch. "Oh, fuck!" I shouted as she unzipped my pants. My hands gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white with exertion.

"Let me thank you for your present, Edward," she cooed, leaning towards my newly exposed cock.

"Let's wait until I park the car, baby," I begged, pushing her shoulder upwards gently, hoping to deter her from her obvious mission. I didn't know if I trusted my driving enough to do this in a moving vehicle. And I loved my vehicle...maybe more than blow jobs. Bella, however, didn't feel the same way. She just smirked and lowered her mouth over the head, nipping and sucking on me with abandon. "Jesus!" I groaned as she slid further down towards my lap, her warm mouth encasing my erection fully. She moaned in return as she pulled her head back up before plunging back down onto me. I moved one of my hands from the steering wheel down into her hair to guide her pace. I couldn't fucking help it. . _Looks like you DO like blow jobs more than your car._.

I moved my foot off of the accelerator, letting myself glide over the spacious Phoenix freeways as Bella continued to move her head up and down. I made sure to steady her pace, slowing it down to ensure that I didn't crash my beautiful car. Her hand moved to the base, massaging whatever her mouth couldn't reach, sending me into the heights of pleasure. I could feel the tension building-her steady pace increasing ever so slightly with a subtle flick of my wrist. Finally, my long driveway came into view and I stepped on the accelerator, the soft purr of the engine only serving to heighten my arousal.

I didn't even make it to the garage before I put the car into park and pushed the driver's seat as far back as it would go. Bella hollowed out her cheeks and gave one final tug before pulling off of my cock and slipping her black lace thong off. "Baby, hurry," I groaned as she pulled her high heeled pumps off of her feet.

"Uh huh..." Within seconds, Bella was straddling my seat, her delicate feet perched on either side of my thighs. The look of wanton need in her eyes was pretty much exactly how I felt, so without further ado, I adjusted myself and thrust inside her quickly. "Oh, good God!" she yelled, leaning her head forward onto my shoulder to nuzzle her nose into my neck. Bella always told me that she loved the smell of me during sex-that is was me enhanced, or something ridiculous like that-but every time she inhaled there, it sent shivers to my spine, alerting my cock to pay even more attention.

She felt so warm and wet. I didn't even care that we were probably making a mess all over my Armani pants. All I knew was that I felt like I was burning up from the inside. Thrusting upwards, I pulled my jacket off, leaning forward as far as I could without pushing Bella off of my lap (that would have been a crisis!). As I removed my jacket, Bella's fingers went to loosen my tie, still bouncing on my lap (what a multi-tasker, right?).

"Bella...fuck, you feel so good!" I moaned as her lips reattached themselves to my neck, just below my left ear. I was so overcome by pleasure that I didn't even realize my hands weren't moving. As soon as I did, I rectified that situation, though. I moved my hands to caress her bare back, to aid in her rocking motion. We were both sweating like crazy and the car was probably going to smell like sex for days, but I couldn't have cared less with my gorgeous girlfriend fucking me.

"Ungh, yes!" she cried out, throwing her head back to meet my lips. Instead of kissing, though, our teeth just clanked against one another as we breathed hot air into one another's mouths. I moved my hand under the hem of her skirt to caress the skin of her inner thigh, loving the way she clenched down on me further with each passing stroke. I could tell she was getting closer, as was I. I had been seconds from coming about fifteen minutes ago, so now I was ._really._ ready to go. As my hand under her skirt moved to rub her clit, my other hand pushed her faster and harder onto my lap. She leaned forward, and I took advantage of her chest's proximity to my mouth, my tongue laving her visible cleavage as our hands worked doubly hard.

"I love you, Edward," she panted, her head nuzzling my shoulder again. I thrust quickly into her, groaning loudly as her entire body clenched and shuddered above mine. With one final thrust, i gave into my overwhelming climax and spilled into her, panting loudly.

Suddenly, I felt wetness on my legs, and I realized that our come was mixing together and dripping onto me and almost onto my beloved car.

"Shit!" I panicked, throwing the car door open and rolling me and Bella onto the pavement of my driveway.

"Edward, what the fuck?" Bella groaned, this time not from pleasure, my dick softening and slipping out from her. Looking at her disheveled body against the pavement, I burst into laughter as I tucked myself into my pants.

"We were going to drip on my baby."

At that Bella laughed, too. "Such a fucking asshole, Cullen. Love your car more than your girlfriend."

"Not true," I said, lifting her off the pavement and helping her straighten her dress and pull it over her thighs. "I'm not shipping my car to Connecticut for Christmas." She inhaled slowly, a smile breaking across her face, reminding her why we were in the mood to celebrate.

"Thank you, Edward. That is the best Christmas present I could have ever asked for." Instead of answering her, I grabbed her hand after slamming the car door shut, and pulled her into my house. We had hours before we had to be anywhere, and I intended on celebrating all night long.

_**..-BPOV**_**-**..

As I laid comfortably in Edward's warm embrace I had to think back on the evenings..no the whole days events. Practice had been hot and grueling yet the only thing that had maintained my consistent attention was Edward.

The sex in the shower had been ah-mazing. Even if we had almost gotten caught by the rookie Jake. And the flash of jealousy that I saw in Edward's eyes was as much an aphrodisiac as a girl could need.

Then I had between Rose's shopping spree and my 'undercover' gift that he had oh so pleasantly unwrapped after we pulled ourselves off the pavement. Instinctively I rubbed my hip and the place I'm sure would have a bruise tomorrow. But I didn't care..._Edward and his baby...stupid car..__  
__  
_I snuggled closer into Edward's neck and breathed him in. He smelled intoxicating. The fact that he really wanted me to meet his whole family (parents included) was beyond thrilling and a bit terrifying. Edward had given me the best gift possible. A white Christmas surrounded by family-even if it wasn't mine-the picture I had painted in my mind might as well have been a Norman Rockwell painting.

I giggled in spite of myself and drew in another delicious Edward scented breath. The delirium and happiness of the day taking over. I ran my hand under the sheet until it came to rest on his now hardening cock. My mouth roamed and found its way to the juncture where his neck met his shoulders. My tongue tracing intricate little designs as he started to awaken. _  
__  
__.Oh, the fun I was going to have thanking him for the perfect gift.__  
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_**A/N: So how did we feel about this?****  
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****Are you a football fan? Who's your favorite team/ quarterback?****  
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****I miss y'all while I'm having summer vacation but I will be back.**** Thank you to the readers that have stayed with me into this next fic, you guys don't know how much I appreciate the alerts, favs, and the reviews. It makes me all giggly and smiley every time I get an alert from FFn.  
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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright chicken and roosters, I'm back from a long vacation and here's chappie 3 for you. I hope you guys like this one. :) This is my collab piece with lexiecullen17 for the fic exchange, gifted to MrsAc.**

**I'm joint hosting The Plot Bunny Contest with the wonderful YogaGal and Sorceresscirce. The C2 is on my page, check out the entries on there right now, and the ones coming soon. **

**SM owns Twi stuff I just have fun playing with her toys.****  
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**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

_**-EPOV-**_

As we exited the plane, I could feel Bella's anticipation rising. We approached the baggage carousel, and I caught sight of a suited man holding up a "Cullen" sign. I flagged him over, smiling kindly, and he helped us load our luggage into his sleek black town-car. Bella's mouth dropped in shock as she realized that we were being chauffeured to my parent's house.

"What?" I asked, wrapping an arm around her. It was freezing outside, a mere thirty four degrees at John F. Kennedy Jr. Airport, and I was positive that it was going to take a while for Bella to get acclimated. After all, she had lived in warm weather for her entire life. This was like visiting the Arctic Circle for her.

"I-um-we..." She struggled for words, pulling her scarf off as we slid into the heated car. "Your family doesn't pick you up from the airport?"

I shook my head, and she looked at me sadly-although i had no idea why. My family was close, but we were WASPs (Wealthy Anglo-Saxton Preps)...we didn't really _show_ affection like that. My twin brother and I had been raised by our nanny and sent to a prestigious college preparatory school before being shuttled off to college. So, although I loved my family, I had no desire to see them as soon as I landed the plane. I guessed Bella was more exuberant in her affection with her own family, and I hoped that she wouldn't be disappointed by the lack of it in mine.

"Uh, no. My dad is still at work in Manhattan right now. He'll get home tonight around nine. Jasper is driving home from Yale with his new girlfriend, who I have yet to meet, and I doubt he'd volunteer to drive forty five more minutes to pick us up from the airport. And my mother-" I looked at my watch, wondering what time it was. It was only eleven; we had taken an early morning flight in attempt to have as much time in Connecticut as possible. "My mother is at her Daughters of the American Revolution meeting right now. It's fine, baby. Demetri always picks me up from the airport. Right, Demetri?" I asked the driver up front, who was fairly surprised I was talking to him at all.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Cullen." I smiled down at Bella who looked even more concerned now.

"What is it now?"

"Nothing," she whispered as she snuggled into my side. I stroked her hair and kissed it softly, reveling in her soft sigh. I was grateful for our two week break away from the stadium; it meant that we would be able to go out in public together. Connecticut wasn't exactly known for its paparazzi, thank God.

As Bella snored softly by my side, I wondered what the next week would bring. I had so much that I wanted to share at home with Bella, and I wasn't sure how she was going to respond to all of it. Hopefully well. Soon enough, my own eyes were drooping and I dozed off beside her, only waking up when Demetri rolled down my window, letting the crisp air into the backseat.

"What the-" I came out of my slumber groggily, unhappy with the newly frigid temperature invading my senses. My wake up was followed immediately by Bella's, who was equally as confused. Shaking the sleep out of my head, I looked up to see that we had arrived at the front gate of my parents' house. I leaned out of the window and entered the code quickly, watching the electronic gates open before rolling the window back up.

I leaned back and brought my gaze down to Bella, who looked equal parts confused and horrified.

"What is it, baby?"

"Your house has a gate and a code?" I nodded, unsure of why that would be a big deal. My family had many valuable assets in our house-it would be foolish not to have the proper security systems in place. "Jesus, Edward! You could have warned me that your family was like related to the Vanderbilts or something. Good God, I feel low class. Your parents are going to hate me. It's literally like you're bringing home the trash."

"We're actually related to the Astors, but the Vanderbilts are close family friends," I joked, knowing that I was telling the truth-but there was no way Bella would know that. I smiled down at her, squeezing her side gently.

"Oh my God, you're not even lying," she replied, seeing through my joke completely. I tried to laugh to keep the mood light, but I could see her mood plummeting with every word coming out of my mouth.

Instead of deepening the hole, I pulled out the big guns. Caressing the side of her cheek lightly, I tilted her chin upwards and met her lips with mine in a soft kiss. As I leaned back, she exhaled a long shaky breath before staring straight back at me.

"Bella, I love you. My family is going to love you. Trust me. My mom will be trying to get you to join the DAR and fixing you gin and tonics before the end of the night, I promise. I wouldn't throw you to the wolves, and you know that. Besides, we have time to get you acclimated before you even meet them tonight. Now, smile because we're here." I looked up to see that we had, in fact, arrived in front of the house. My eyes traveled the large expanse of our front lawn and driveway before muttering a low curse under my breath. My father's black Mercedes, his work car, was sitting out front. I guessed he decided to take off from work early this year. _Shit_.

There was nothing I could do now anyway, so I decided to go with the flow and get out of the car. We couldn't hide out in here all day, that was for sure. I pushed the door open and grabbed Bella to follow behind me as Demetri dealt with our luggage. We walked around to the side entrance, which led into the kitchen. Without announcing our arrival, I dove right in, heading inside. I turned around, pushed Bella's coat from her shoulders, and threw it over my arm.

"Welcome to my home." I smiled as Bella's eyes lit up, looking around the high-end kitchen. I knew that she thought she'd died and gone to heaven right about now. Bella's dream kitchen included the same granite counters, SubZero refrigerator, and Viking appliances, which were gracing the room she was currently admiring.

"Edward?" my mother called out, "Is that you?" Bella's eyes widened, and then she smacked me...hard.

"Ow," I groaned.

"You're such a God damned liar, Edward Anthony Cullen!" she whisper-yelled at me, smoothing out her long sweater. "What happened to 'no one will be here until later'? Huh?" Her pretty brown eyes narrowed with each one of her panicked words, and I regretted not warning her as soon as I'd caught sight of my father's car in the driveway that they were home.

I tried to apologize quickly, but my mother was too fast. Suddenly, I was accosted with her gin kisses. I rolled my eyes, knowing that it was barely noon, and my mother was most likely on her third cocktail of the day. "Edward, you look so tired! Have you been getting enough sleep? That team is working you too hard. I keep telling you to come back here. Everyone misses you, you know. And it's not right that your mother doesn't get to see you more than twice a year!"

"Mom," I said, pulling Bella into my side, ignoring her rambling. "This is Bella. Bella, this is my mother, Esme."

"H-hi, Mrs. Cullen. Thank you so much for having me. Your home is beautiful." I looked down at Bella, completely shocked. Who was this well-behaved, soft-spoken girl and where was the stubborn, witty siren who had won my heart so completely?

"It's Esme, dear, don't be silly!" My mother reached for Bella, pulling her into an embrace before kissing both her cheeks. "I'm so excited my boys are finally bringing home girls for the holidays!" She darted out of the room quickly before shouting out to Bella again, "What are you drinking today, Bella?"

A soft pink blush broke out across Bella's cheeks as she replied with ease, "I'll take a gimlet, if it's not too much trouble."

My mother giggled softly from the other room, and I could hear her putting together her own favorite cocktail. I grabbed Bella's hand and laced my fingers with hers before dragging her into the sitting room, where our liquor cabinet resided.

"Here-" My mother handed off the short crystal glass to a now smiling Bella. "A gin girl, Edward? Please don't mess _this _one up." My mouth dropped at her insinuation. I knew that my publicist had done a good job of having me appear in the media with a different girl each week for practically the past five years, but I had no idea that my mother had been following as well.

"I don't plan to." I squeezed Bella's hand before bringing it to my lips and kissing her knuckles.

"Now, I made up the guest room for you, dear, but if you wanted to stay in Eddie's room, that's fine with me." She shot a look over in my direction. "Just don't tell your father, please."

I rolled my eyes. "He knows I'm twenty seven, right? And he was the one who gave me my first condom to begin with-"

"Edward!" my mother and Bella reprimanded me simultaneously. I chuckled, seeing that they were already getting along fine.

"What? I'm just saying-"

Bella cut me off again, knowing that I was liable to head down the least appropriate path. "Whatever makes you most comfortable, Esme. I'm completely content sleeping in the guest room if you want."

"Maybe _you _would..." I grumbled. My mother heard and just laughed, pulling Bella close again, whislt managing not to spill any of her precious cocktail.

"Just run your bags up to Edward's room now, and I'll retrieve Carlisle from his study." Bella and I stood there for a second before my mother continued, "Shoo! Upstairs. Quickly, you two."

Bella took a large sip of her gimlet before linking her arm in mine again, ready for me to lead the way. Once within my room, her laughter finally started. I stood patiently, waiting for her to say something.

"Oh my God, Edward. I...I...I _love _her!" A huge smile broke out across my face. I loved my mother, too, and I was grateful that she and Bella were already getting along. After all, they would be family one day.

"I'm glad." I smirked before pulling Bella towards me and wrapping her in my arms again. "Hopefully you'll feel the same way about my father. However, Jasper's another thing...if you two didn't get along, that'd be fine by me."

Bella frowned. "You never talk about him, and you guys are twins. Aren't you supposed to be like super close?"

I scoffed. "Sure."

Bella reached up, kissing the underside of my jaw before caressing the stubble with the tips of her cold fingers. "Talk to me, Edward. What's the deal with you and Jasper?"

I sighed and flopped down on my soft king-sized bed. "There is no deal. We're just not really friends. Never have been." I felt the bed dip next to me before Bella laid her head on my chest, waiting patiently for me to continue. "He was the bookworm, and I was the jock. Needless to say, we weren't really in the same circle of friends. We don't really look that much alike, so we were never clumped together like most identical twins. I don't know. He's not exactly my biggest fan, Bella."

"Okay, so he was smart and dorky and you were athletic and good looking. Edward, is it so hard to see why he might be a little jealous of you?"

I rolled my eyes. If only she knew. "No. Jasper isn't jealous. He's more like a condescending asshole."

At that, Bella sat straight up, looking fairly worried. "Edward, seriously? Don't talk about your brother that way. I haven't even met him, but I know that can't be true."

"It is. Now, can you drop it. Please?" She bit her lip, as if she were fighting back words (which, in all seriousness, she probably was), and sighed in resignation before pulling me off the bed.

We headed downstairs to the sitting room only to be greeted by the very asshole I'd been talking about. At Jasper's side was a tiny girl with short black hair, who looked like she belonged with him- a pretentious Yale grad student at her finest, clearly. Her hair was mostly covered by a beret, which was tilted to the side so much that you could tell she had placed it there specifically. She wore a dark purple turtleneck sweater and black skinny jeans which all ended in a pair of tall black boots. She looked as if she'd stepped out of the pages of some Jack Kerouac novel, and I was one hundred percent positive that was intentional. She opened her wide blue eyes, showing off her heavily eyeliner and mascara-coated lashes before approaching me confidently.

"I'm Alice."

"And I'm Edward," I replied, matching her overly lackadaisical tone. My mother nudged me in the ribs to behave, but I could see her holding back laughter, too. _Such typical Jasper_.

"Edward," he began in a clipped tone.

"Jasper."

"Carlisle," my father said, stepping towards us, trying to lighten the tense mood that had fallen upon the room.

"Oh, right. Dad, this is Bella." My dad was less exuberant about his introduction to Bella than my mother, but I could tell that he approved nonetheless. His blue eyes widened as he took in the beauty beside me.

"Bella, welcome." He stuck out a hand for her to shake, which he must not have done with Alice because Jasper scowled and sighed loudly.

"Bella asked for a gimlet," my mother added, wrapping an arm around Bella's waist.

My dad's eyes widened again before a huge smile broke across his face. "A gin girl, hmm? Edward, don't lose this one." His words mirrored my mother, and I smiled. I wasn't planning on fucking up this relationship any time soon. And I was glad they approved of Bella. They didn't have to even say anything, their body language and facial expressions said it all.

"Come on, Alice. Let's go get our bags from the car." Alice looked started at Jasper's interruption; she had been staring at Bella's welcome with rapt interest. They must have been colder to her than I could imagine. Oh, well. What did she expect walking into our house looking like a mod hipster? That she would be welcomed with open arms? Although Bella wasn't quite up to my parent's prep standard, her long grey sweater, dark wash jeans, and flats made her look put together and completely acceptable in my parent's eyes.

As we heard the door slam shut, my dad began to laugh. "So, that was...interesting." I rolled my eyes. _Understatement_.

"Where did he manage to find that one?" my mother asked, clearly amused by Jasper's choice in girlfriend.

"She said she was in the creative writing program." My dad sighed and patted me on the shoulder. "Well, Bella, it was great to meet you. I can't wait to hear all about how you're keeping this one in line."

"I do what I can." She grinned. Both of my parents laughed loudly, and I couldn't help the blush that formed on my face.

"We're sure you do. Now, we have to go run some last minute errands in town, but we were thinking that you two could start baking?" My dad looked to Bella. "Edward tells us you love to bake."

Bella looked surprised that I had told my parents about her. I knew that she couldn't tell her own parents due to fear of it leaking to the media, but my parents would never sell me out like that. Why wouldn't I tell them about her?

"I do! Cook...bake...basically anything in the kitchen." I smirked, knowng how true that was. Bella and I seemed to end up naked in the kitchen every time we were there together.

"Well, then. You can start with the Christmas cookies for the Vanderbilts party on Saturday. The recipe is on the counter. And we should be back in an hour or two."

Bella shot a glare at me, hearing that my family was actually friends with the Vanderbilts, but I was too happy to care. I heard some shuffling, alerting us that Jasper and Alice had returned to the house with their bags, and I tried to regain my straight face.

"Hey, Mom...Dad, where are you off to?" Jasper inquired from the front hall.

"Errands," my mother chirped. I noticed that she didn't ask them to come along and smirked. Bella noticed and elbowed my ribs on the opposite side that my mother had hit.

"Ow!" I yelled out in surprise. "What was that for?"

Bella laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulder before grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the voices in the foyer. "Be nice," she warned.

"But I don't want to," I whined in my best annoying voice.

"Stop being such a baby."

"What?" Jasper quipped. "Did the Golden Boy get injured already?"

Bella laughed teasingly patting the spot she'd bruised before while leaning closer into my side. "Just keeping him in line." She looked up at me with her adoring eyes, and I knew that I could refuse her nothing. If she wanted me to play nice with Jasper, I guessed I would try for her sake.

"As always." I leaned down and pressed a firm kiss to her forehead.

"Hmm, I'll bet." Jasper smirked, and I noticed that my own trademark grin also graced his features. My mother looked back and forth between us, neither of us breaking eye contact until my dad broke in.

"Jasper, why don't you and Alice accompany your mother and me on our errands? You can tell us more about your thesis." Jasper looked up, clearly startled by our dad's suggestion. He wasn't exactly close with him, by any means. My dad was always far more interested in my football games than Jasper's studies.

"Um, we'd love to. Alice?" he asked the silent girl by his side.

"Sounds perfect. I love discussing Jasper's work. His analysis of Vonnegut's early work is truly inspirational."

And with that, they were out the door. I smiled at my luck. Bella and I had the house to ourselves for a few hours. And I definitely planned on using that time wisely.

_**-BPOV-**_

No sooner than the front door clicked close was Edward wrapped around me. His strong muscular arms were tight around my middle as his breath fell on my neck and ears. "Now we're alone, Bella." I recognized his cocky attitude for what is was.

"Yes, Edward," I teased. "Because you ran off Jasper and his girlfriend." Edward laughed into my hair as his hand started to slowly caress my hip. "Don't even think about it, buddy. We have cookies to make, and this is your mom's kitchen." No way was I getting naked here, as we so often did in our own kitchen settings.

I could feel his body slump down into a familiar pout, his face contorting into features I'd become well acquainted with- the soft protruding lower lip and big green puppy dog eyes. But I also knew that his mindset was that of a teenage boy, and he was likely to turn from dejected puppy to eager beaver in three...two...

"But, Bella, you know how I get when you're in an apron. And when you mix stuff, the way your hips move..." I looked over my shoulder and was met with his infamous "panty dropping" grin. "It really isn't fair." And then the cocky bastard winked at me.

I smiled coyly and drew one hand behind me to casually rub his thigh. While Edward was distracted with thoughts of sex on the counter top, I elbowed him in the ribs... _hard_. I giggled as he doubled over. "You should know better than to use your man whore powers on me, Cullen!"

Doubled over and trying to look upset, Edward peered up at me through lashes. With a look of mock pain, he yelped, "Ow, Bella. I'm beginning to think you enjoy hurting me...masochist," he grumbled. For as much as he would try, he also knew I would dig in my heels and be stubborn.

I turned away quickly, my restraint not high enough to resist him much longer, and questioned him over my shoulder. "Where's your mom's mixer?" His footsteps echoed in the quiet of the house. A moment later, the mixer graced the counter top.

"And where does she keep the sugar and flour? I'm assuming that all of her baking things are together," I rambled while keeping my eyes purposefully averted. Instead of saying anything, he tapped his finger on the cabinet, willing me to look at him. Keeping a steady rhythm to my right, I finally turned to look at him. _Fine, if he wants to play this...I will._

I swished my hips exaggeratedly as I stepped in front of him, making sure that my ass grazed across his crotch as I did. I could feel the reaction instantly and internally laughed. Opening the door slowly, I arched my back,and poked my breasts out, giving him the show he wanted. I remained in place, letting him admire my body, as I sifted through the shelf to I find shortening, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar.

Edward's ragged breathing at my display only encouraged me further. When I sauntered over to the fridge to retrieve the milk, I made sure to bend at the waist, grabbing the carton from the bottom shelf. I could most definitely feel Edward's eyes on my ass, and they were very close to setting my panties on fire.

Gulping in a large breath, I gathered all the items and set up my area around the mixer. I was an organized bitch, and I was okay with that.

First, I measured out four cups of powdered sugar and set it aside using a fancy sifter. Edward examined my first steps, figuring out what I was baking. I knew he loved this particular frosting, and it was no coincidence that I chose to make it now. _That'll teach you for trying to make me look bad, by not doing as your mom asked. _Like I would actually let him have sex with me in his parent's kitchen instead of following her orders. _Stupid cookies, stupid party, and stupid Vanderbilts. _How could Edward have thought I'd be okay with that?

I dumped the shortening and vanilla in the mixer before setting the speed and grabbing a spreading spatula, I watched as the mixture took form and slowly added in the powdered sugar and milk as the beaters whipped through. Through out this process, Edward had taken up residence closely behind me. His warm erratic breathing caressed my bare neck as I tried valiantly to ignore him, but the fluffier and fluffier the frosting became, the more aroused I was. Soon, feather-light touches began to fall upon my shoulders and neck, and I finished the frosting quickly, knowing that it'd get ruined if I let Edward touch me any longer while making it.

I set aside the frosting to let it settle and began the cookie recipe that Esme had left. Edward continued his torturous, barely-there touches as I worked. The recipe card was hand written, making me realize it was a well used recipe. I hadn't known that Esme liked to bake. The recipe was for holiday shortbread cookies, which were actually really easy to make. I had always loved them over sugar cookies, too. After mixing up the ingredients, I put in the first and only batch-thanks to the double oven- to bake.

As I crossed back to the bowl of frosting, I felt Edward's gaze on me. My body was more than ready to give in. Knowing exactly how to tease him, I ran my finger along the rim of the bowl, scooping a small taste of the white frosting on the tip. His stare still trained on me, I raised my finger to my mouth and twirled my tongue around it. Gradually, I sucked my finger into my mouth, moaning at the taste of sweet sugar.

Before I had even had a chance to remove it from my mouth, Edward was pressed into me. "Bella," he groaned loudly. "Is there enough to make another batch?" His darted his eyes to the bowl of frosting.

I nodded and began to draw my finger out of my mouth. Edward's hand shot up, his fingers grasping my wrist tightly. Slowly, he pulled my hand towards him. His eyes never breaking with mine, he slipped my moist finger into his mouth.

"I licked the frosting off already," I stammered out, unable to look away from him.

"I know, but you taste sweeter." His rough voice spoke volumes after he allowed my finger to slide from between his lips.

"Edward," I warned. "I told you 'no'. Not in your mom's kitchen." But Edward-being Edward-didn't head my warning.

"I know. And, Bella, I just want to apologize to you." He dropped his gaze to the floor and then slowly traveled up my body up to my now flushed face. "Let me apologize for not preparing you better for what to expect." He grinned, all boyish charm and sex.

For the life of me, I couldn't respond. The kitchen was filling with the aroma of shortbread cookies, sugar, vanilla frosting, and Edward-and it was heavenly. If I could bottle that scent and sell it, I still wouldn't. No, I hide that shit and not share it with a single soul outside this room.

Suddenly, Edward's lips crushed into mine with such force that it knocked our bodies back against the counter. The air left my lungs in surprise, and I moaned into his mouth as his tongue began to trace the outline of my lips. I ran my hands up his sides, not wanting them to be idle any longer. But once again, he grabbed my wrists and stilled their movement.

"No," he whispered, his breath warming my face. "Bella, I'm apologizing to you right now. Let me do _this_ for you," he pleaded. With no protests from me (how could I?), he attacked my lips again.

The force of his tongue in my mouth nearly caused me to soaked my panties through. While our tongued danced around one another, his hands found the hem of my sweater. Barely breaking our heated, lust-filled kiss, he pulled my sweater over my head. I wasn't even sure how he had managed that so gracefully, but then again, Edward did everything gracefully.

I stood, my chest pressed into him, as he continued his assault on my lips. Then, suddenly, his kisses were gone. It took me a second to realize that my eyes had been closed. I opened them just in time to see Edward drop to his knees. I watched with rapt attention as he laid wet open-mouthed kisses above the waist of my jeans.

As he ran his tongue along the same trail his mouth had just marked, I focused on the feel of his teeth grazing my hip. Somewhere in the back of my head, I faintly registered the sound of my zipper and then the feel of cool air on my bare thighs. Edward drew a sharp breath, and I moved my eyes to his instantly, wondering what was wrong.

_Oh yeah, I almost forgot about those, _I thought. But in actuality, that was a fib. I had intentionally worn one of the lingerie sets Rose had picked up for me, a black silk demi cup bra, edged with pink lace and a matching side-tie thong.

"Edward?" I called out. He still hadn't moved, talked, or even breathed, for that matter. He tilted his face toward mine, keeping his gaze set on my crotch. His wide-eyed shock turned devilish in a flash.

"Are those bows just decoration?" He nodded his nose towards the ties that fell low on my hips. I shook my head "no" and was rewarded with a very excited boyfriend.

Edward stood quickly and grabbed either side of my face to kiss me again. Before I could reciprocate, though, his mouth moved expertly across my erogenous zones-his teeth grazing at the skin behind my ear and along my shoulders. I felt his fingers deliberately toy with the clasp on my bra until it gave way, and soon my bra disappeared, most likely joining wherever my sweater and jeans had run off to.

Leaning into me, Edward allowed his tongue to trace lines across my breasts and around my nipples. He whispered, "Perfect," before sucking my right breast into his mouth. Without pause, he pulled his mouth back and fingered my taut nipple. The sensation was new and incredibly intoxicating. Distracted with his new method, I failed to notice Edward dipping his finger into the vanilla frosting. With diligent care, he proceeded to frost my erect nipples like tiny perfect cupcakes.

After barely admiring his work, Edward pressed the rough flat plain of his tongue against the soft flesh. His mouth moved to encase my nipple as he sucked it veraciously into his mouth, his fervent attention making wet heat pool between my thighs.

I heard the _pop_ sound as he freed my breast from his mouth and then went to work on the other side. I could feel the hardened sugar melting off my skin with the heat of his mouth. And I loved the way his breath fanned over the wet exposed skin, making my flesh rise with goosebumps.

Soon, Edward was just drawing on me with the frosting. His fingers wrote words across my stomach, my hips, and above my pussy. Words like "mine," and "love," and "sexy," were licked from my skin, making me shiver with delight.

He bit and sucked at my hip bone before his teeth found the ties of my panties. Catching the end of the silk ribbon between his teeth and looking like a predator, Edward tugged his head to pull my thong free on one side. He repeated this step on the opposite side, and my breath caught in my throat. I could not breath, let alone speak...so, I moaned.

If I hadn't been so worked up, it might have been embarrassing. _Maybe_.

Edward's warm hands began slow rhythmic rubbing on the outside of my thighs. Each stroke brought the tips of his fingers closer to my wet pussy. "Edward, please," I begged through my loud moaning. _Yeah, I'd given up on holding those back._

Edward was all for pleasing me right now, and I was enjoying every second of it. He moved his left hand to grip my hip while his right palm cupped my very aroused center. I could feel his long delectable fingers splayed against my swollen lips. Painfully slow, he ran his middle finger across my slit and toyed with the surrounding folds.

I whimpered, needing my release. My heartbeat throbbed in my sex, and I knew he could feel it, too.

Soon, he was rubbing his fingers in and out of my slick folds, my hips bucking as his anxious fingers edged nearer to my entrance. Taking the hint, he dipped two fingers inside of me and began pumping them steadily. With his fingers deep inside of me, his mouth found purchase on the skin just above my clit.

I was in a trance of lust and want, completely intoxicated by Edward's movements. During my haze, I had failed noticed that he had placed a dollop of frosting on my sex. His fingers curled and uncurled inside of me, and my walls pulsed, giving in to the spasms of pleasure. Edward's mouth clamped down on my clit, and he sucked the frosting and the nub into his mouth. His teeth ran over my clit as he moaned and exhaled onto my sopping wet flesh.

I began to buck against his face and hands, the waves of pleasure crashing over me.

"Ohhhhh, yessssss...Ed-ward!" I moaned loudly, my hands finally freeing themselves from the counter's edge and finding purchase in his hair as I forcefully and rode out my orgasmic frosting apology. _If he wanted to apologize this way all the time, I'd have to find a reason to pick a fight more often._

I threw my head back, and with my eyes focused on the ceiling, two things happened. I both invoked both God and Edward and heard car doors slamming. _Just what I need...his family to walk in with my naked ass running up the stairs...or with their son's face buried in my pussy. _My eyes shot to the window, and I saw his brother and his girlfriend, along with Edward's parents gathering things from their trunk. I panicked and pushed Edward off of me and onto his ass.

"Take the cookies out of the oven!" I yelled at him, panicked, and then ran for it. I rushed up the stairs, my clothes spilling over my arms. I slammed Edward's bedroom door shut seconds before the door to the house creaked open.

I blew out a deep calming breath and rushed into his bathroom. I cleaned up quickly and fixed my hair after I redressed. Stepping lightly down the stairs, I decided that if anyone asked, I could say I'd been in the bathroom. Technically, it wasn't a lie.

But as I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I heard Esme's voice. "Well, Edward, seriously," she huffed, irritated. "How rude is it after she took the time to make frosting from scratch?"

"Mom," Edward whined, sounding like a little boy again.

"Don't you 'Mom,' me, Edward Anthony Cullen," she fussed. "And don't even try and deny it. There's frosting all over your mouth and chin." I paused in the doorway and saw Edward nervously begin to giggle whist wiping the risidual frosting from his face. My face flushed the brightest of reds, and I hoped that no one looked over at me.

Thankfully, Edward told everyone that he was taking me in town to show me around and whisked me out of the kitchen before any conclusions could be made.

_**-EPOV-**_

Once safely situated in my mother's red Audi A4, Bella burst into laughter. "Oh my God, Edward," she panted, clearly amused by my mother's scolding. "That was hilarious."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't help but chuckle softly under my breath. It _had been _kind of hilarious. Bella was lucky to have heard them pull into the driveway, otherwise I didn't think she would have been so amiable about my mother's admonishment. Instead, I decided to turn on the radio, which was filled with Christmas carols as we drove through the winding back roads to get to town.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked, wondering what I should show off in town.

"I feel like I should get your parents a present. What do you think they'd like?"

I brought my hand down to caress her thigh, watching her shiver under my touch. "Baby, you don't need to get them anything. They love you already." Her eyes narrowed, and I could see that my suggestion wasn't an option. "Fine, um, wine?"

Bella shook her head and wrinkled her nose with distaste. "No, that's too generic, Edward. What are your parents hobbies?"

"Uh, drinking?" She went to smack me again, and I knew she'd do it, too, so I held up the hand and interjected. "Kidding, kidding. Fine. Um, my mom loves to cook. And my dad loves old movies." Bella nodded her head and pulled her eyes back towards the window to gaze out onto the frost covered ground. As I approached the town, her eyes widened and she looked like a small child, eager to play. I nearly laughed. "So, where are we headed? Have you decided on their presents?"

"Williams Sonoma, FYE, and a wine shop?" My head snapped towards hers in alarm. Bella couldn't afford those kinds of gifts. She was still paying her way through school.

"Bella, you can't-"

"Shut your mouth, Edward. We're both paying. It'll be from both of us. Did you even get them a present yet?" She knew I hadn't. I had told her on the plane ride over that I had no idea what I was going to get them. Such a little minx.

"Fine." I pulled onto Greenwich Avenue, our main street of shops running through the center of town. I parked the car at the middle of the avenue, closest to Williams Sonoma where we began our torrid Christmas shopping journey.

I had forgotten how much I fucking hated shopping at the holidays. Despite the small size of my town, it seemed as if we could barely move past the masses of people in each store. We got through Williams Sonoma quickly, buying my mother a holiday cocktail cookbook and a set of mugs. Then, the wine store was easy, too. The owner knew my parents preferences and recommended one of their favorite bottles that they hadn't bought in a while. However, FYE was something else. It was packed to the brim, and I saw several people from high school lurking around, who I would rather not have seen.

"Um, baby, would you mind going in there by yourself? I can go grab us some hot chocolates. You're looking a little cold." I laughed, noticing her pink cheeks and bright red nose. No, my Bella wasn't completely acclimated to the New England winter weather yet. Her teeth chattered as she brought her hands under my jacket, coming to soak up some of my body heat.

"Y-yes-s-s p-p-plea-s-se," she chattered, nuzzling her head into my thick winter jacket.

I brought my hands to either side of her body, rubbing up and down, trying to build some friction for her. "We're going to have to toughen you up, sweetheart. But why don't you meet me in Starbucks in ten minutes?"

"Mmkay." She moved her hands around my neck and pulled me in for a long kiss. She tangled her fingers into my hair, holding me forcefully against her moving lips. I knew she was also reveling in the fact that we could be together in public, and I loved her for that. "See you in ten, big boy." Her tone was sultry and seductive, and my cock definitely noticed. She was such a fucking tease. We were in public. Obviously, we couldn't really do more than kiss. God damn her. And after that display in the kitchen, my cock was aching for her touch.

I waved her off and headed down the block towards Starbucks. The line was long, as I suspected it would be, and it took me almost fifteen minutes to get to the register. I ordered two hot chocolates and was pushed to the side in order to make room for the other hoards of Christmas shoppers. Finally, our hot chocolates were up, but Bella had yet to return. I looked around and spotted a couple getting up off the comfy chairs and booked it to them before anyone could get in my way.

I placed the hot chocolates down and took off my jacket, getting too warm all of a sudden in the heated people-filled room. I closed my eyes for a second and inhaled the warm smell of coffee and chocolate and baked goods. Man, I loved Christmas time at home.

"Edward Cullen, is that you?" a familiar voice called out. I cracked an eye open to see a gorgeous petite blonde I hadn't seen in nearly ten years, my high school sweetheart.

"Lucy?" I stood suddenly, feeling unsure and awkward about how to respond to her. I honestly hadn't seen her since our high school graduation. After I had been recruited to UC Berkley and she had gotten into Duke, we decided that it would be best to break up. I had no idea what she'd been doing since graduating from Duke, but I never thought I'd be running into her again in Greenwich, that was for sure. She nodded frantically and ran into my arms, hugging me tightly.

"Look at you. You haven't aged a day in ten years, have you?" I was shocked and stunned. Unable to do much else, I just released the grip on her waist and sat down, pointing to the seat across from me. I supposed she could sit until Bella got here.

"Uh, thanks. You look good, too. What have you been up to?"

She smiled warmly and sat down on the wide arm of the comfy chair. "Nothing as cool as what you've been up to, Edward. I still watch your games, you know." She chuckled under her breath, and I could have sworn she blushed. I had become accustomed to this kind of response from women, but it usually wasn't from women that I cared about hurting their feelings. Lucy and I had lost our virginities together in a bedroom at her friend's party sophomore year, and I didn't particularly want to have a scene in the middle of a Starbucks in my hometown.

"Listen-" I began to turn Lucy down nicely before I stopped completely, seeing a large man come up and kiss her cheek.

"Hey, baby," he said, handing off a drink to her, which she brought to her lips quickly.

"Oh, Tyler, this is Edward Cullen," she said excitedly.

The large man rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand. "So you're the reason why I'm subjected to Cardinal's games on Sundays." He laughed, and I felt the weight leave my chest. I smiled and introduced myself in response. I had failed to notice the ring adorning Lucy's left finger in my panicked state. And I felt a touch ridiculous.

Not even seconds later, I spotted Bella making her way through the crowd. I caught her eyes and flagged her over. She was covered in little droplets of water and was smiling like a maniac.

"Edward, it's snowing! I mean, it's just a few flurries..." she squealed before plopping into my lap. "Look!" She giggled and pulled a flake from her hair, watching with curiosity as it melted between her fingertips.

"I see, baby." I laughed, enjoying her childlike innocence bubbling to the surface. It was rare that she was this carefree, and I hated the fact that I needed to snap her out of it, as much as I was enjoying the show. "But, Bella, I have some friends I want you to meet."

Her giggling subsided, and her eyes widened as she searched out the surrounding area. Her eyes came upon Lucy and Tyler quickly, and I loved the blush that heated her cheeks in response. "Oh, shit," she mumbled, hopping off of my lap and onto the arm of the chair.

"Oh, no you don't!" And with that, I tugged her flailing body back into my lap. She _hmphed_ and frowned, but I could feel her relaxing into my touch. "Bella, this is actually my high school sweetheart, Lucy. And this is her husband, Tyler." Bella tensed at the word "sweetheart" before relaxing at "husband." I loved that she got jealous. Even though we both knew there was no need. My heart had belonged solely to her for the past four years, and she knew it. "And Lucy, this is Bella...my girlfriend."

"Edward Cullen has a girlfriend?" she asked skeptically.

"For three years," Bella jumped in, marking her territory. "After pining for a year. He worked really hard, too," she snickered before placing a kiss on my cheek.

"But what about all of the girls you're spotted out with?" Tyler asked, genuinely curious.

I pinched Bella's side, finding her possessiveness adorable, but it could still get us into trouble. I had just met Tyler, and I didn't really want him blabbing about my personal life to some gossip magazine. "Jesus, Edward! That hurt!" she cried out. _Oops. _I didn't realize how hard I'd pinched her, but I really needed her to shut her mouth. She shot up from my lap, gripping her side in pain. Quickly, she grabbed her hot chocolate from the table and turned away from me. "Lucy, Tyler, it was really nice to meet you, but I have to go. I just remembered I needed to pick up one more present." And with that, she booked it out of the Starbucks.

Groaning, I laid my head into my hands, pressing the heels of my palms against my eyelids.

"Still a complete nightmare with girls, I see," Lucy joked, and I shook my head to myself, wallowing in my insensitivity. "What are you doing still sitting here? Go, Edward." I looked up to see Lucy's patient face, and I finally cracked a smile.

"Thanks. Sorry, we've been hiding our relationship from the media for so long...all three years, actually. And I told her that we didn't have to worry about that here. Sorry I panicked. It's a reflex, I guess."

Tyler shook his head, waving me off, and I hugged Lucy quickly before heading out to the street to find Bella. Hopefully she hadn't gone too far. My eyes scanned the surrounding shops, and I found her quickly, huddled on the stairs of a local flower shop that was already closed for the holidays. She looked freezing cold, and I automatically took off my own scarf to wrap it around her neck as I slid onto the stairs next to her. I leaned in to kiss her cheek, but she stiffened and leaned away. I tried again, and she repeated her actions.

"Come on, Bella, I'm sorry." I pouted, hoping to soften her up. "Let me kiss you. My lips are sad without you."

Finally, she moved her cheek within kissing distance before mumbling, "Don't be such a baby."

"No more fighting, okay?" I asked, pulling her chin towards me. She smiled bashfully, knowing that she would probably let me get away with murder. "I can apologize some more when we get home...I think there's some frosting left somewhere..."

Her blush came back in full force, and I hoped she was remembering our fantastic time in the kitchen. I couldn't stop staring at the beauty before me. Suddenly, her eyes widened again, looking up towards the darkening sky. Huge snowflakes dropped through the air, no longer just flurries, but a full-fledged snow fall. I kissed the cold flakes from Bella's thick lashes, melting them with my warm lips. She began to giggle again, and my heart swelled with love for her.

Instantly, I grabbed her hand and held her close to me. She opened her mouth, trying to catch flakes on her tongue as we walked through the town. And for the first time in a long time, I didn't care about my petty sibling rivalry with Jasper, the media, my injured knee, or anything else, I was just happy to be home with the woman I loved.

**A/N: Sooooo...how ya' feeling about their Christmas vacation so far?****  
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****Hit the review button and speak your mind on it. :) Smoochies bb's****  
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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Well, here you go chickens and roosters. Ch4 of lexiecullen17 and my fic exchange piece-it was gifted for MrsAC. I hope you really enjoy it, we're working on doing an epi for this story...so hopefully I'll have that to post somewhere near the end of this fic. **

**As always, SM own Twi...I just play barbie and ken with her toys**

**X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-x-x-X  
**

_**-BPOV-**_

I woke early on Christmas morning. Between the flight, Edward's family (especially his mother's gimlets), the kitchen frosting adventure, and our shopping excursion...I was beat. I had some residual muscle aches from all the fun we'd had in and out of Edward's room, and since I could hear someone up and about downstairs, I figured I'd get up and stretch out my sore muscles.

The soft rise and fall of Edward's chest told me that he was still in a deep sleep. Edging from under his arm, he grumbled and buried his face in his pillow-still asleep.

I threw on my fuzzy slipper boots that Rose had gotten me as an early gift and a Cardinal's hoodie over my leggings and tank. Looking down at the tremendously comfy slippers on my feet, I laughed; they were red with little yellow birds on them. As I tiptoed down the stairwell I noted that I did not hear any talking just...noises.

Pausing on the last step I turned my head, listening to make sure I hadn't misinterpreted the sounds. Nope. There was a drip of a coffee machine and the rustling of a paper...someone was up. _Even if they were quiet as hell._ Rounding the corner, complete understanding dawned on me.

Jasper and Alice took up residence in the kitchen, one sitting at the table and the other leaning against the counter in complete silence.

Edward's brother had on a button down shirt with a sweater vest and a fucking red and green striped bow tie. _Seriously, man, maybe Edward was right._ And then Alice looked like she was perched along the edge of her seat, the toe of her gaudy gold and black ballet flats poking out from under her. That was all I could see right now because she had the _Wallstreet Journal_ held high, spread out in front of her face.

"Merr-" I started but was rudely cut off by bow tie boy.

"So, looks like the golden boy's flavor of the week wore him out," Jasper snipped towards Alice, pretending like I wasn't standing two feet from him. Mentally, I calculated how efficient it was that I was flexible and could high kick his snooty nose to the ceiling.

"Jasper W. Cullen, what in the world is wrong with you? We talked about this, and I repeat, I will not listen to anymore snarky, hateful comments." I thought my ears were mistaken, that Esme had walked in, but no, Alice had just stood up for me..._me._ "It makes you sound low-class and unintelligent," she added, just for good measure before pulling the paper back in front of her face.

From the angle where I stood, I saw both their faces now. He looked embarrassed-as he should-and she smiled and winked at me, while trying not to laugh at the obvious power she held over Jasper. _'Trying' being the operative word._ If he hadn't been so mortified, he would have heard the slight snickers from behind the paper.

I mouthed a quick "Thank you," and then made my way over to the coffee pot. As I closed in on the fresh coffee aroma that was calling me, I noticed the window. The drapes were pulled back and the sun was reflecting off the ground like a mirror. Snow! The flurries that Edward and I had played in on the street last night had increased and layered the ground.

With my cup firmly placed back on the counter I headed for the door. Alice dropped her paper to the table and Jasper eyed me like a crazy person. As soon as I swung the door open the frigid air hit me, but my elation over finally having a white Christmas overrode the temperature.

I closed the door softly behind me and flung myself into the cold, wet snow covered ground. I rolled and played as the tiny bits of snow gathered in my hair and on my clothes. _Snow angels. I wanna make snow angels._ Truthfully I had been making sand/desert angels since I was a little girl in Phoenix.

It took awhile but soon my hoodie and tights were soaked with the dampness of winter. And even though shivers were running violently through my body I couldn't help but to stand and laugh with my face tilted to the sky-as new snowflakes landed on my nose and tongue.

Spinning in circles and freezing my ass off, I heard laughter. _Oh shit!_ A mid spin stop left me unbalanced and my focus hazy. Finally, I drew my eyes to the offending chuckles and my eyes went wide at the sight. Edward, Esme and Carlisle were standing in the kitchen at the window watching me like I was a holiday Hallmark special.

Completely and irrevocably humiliated, I made my way to the house. Edward met me at the door with a big warm towel and a huge shit-eating grin on his face. _Yeah, yeah laugh it up. _I glanced down and noticed that I was covered in slush. My tights had turned dark from the moisture, and my hoodie hung heavy on me.

I was sure that I looked a mess, but Edward-being Edward-laughed and wrapped me in the towel and his arms. As he drew me into him, he laughed. "Wow, Bella, if I knew that all it took was snow for you to get all 'Cheerleaders gone wild' on me..." He trailed off suggestively and waggled his eyebrows at me.

"Hey, hey you two," Carlisle spoke up from behind my warm snuggly boyfriend. "Your mother is making breakfast, and it's almost done." His words sounded stern but when I looked his face was all smiles.

"Don't worry," Edward smirked. "I'm just going to help Bella change into some dry clothes."

_Oh my God. Did he just say that in front of his parents? To his parents?_ I smacked at his hands playfully and laughed. His parents didn't look upset or insulted at all.

I made my way out of the kitchen with the towel wrapped tightly around me. As I traveled up the stairs, I heard faint footsteps behind me. _Edward_. As I reached out to grasp the door knob to his room, he wrapped his large warm hand over mine. Stepping into his room, encased by him was nice...familiar.

He placed soft kisses along my neck as he helped me pull off the clingy, wet sweatshirt. His kisses never grew hasty or rushed as I pulled off my tights and soggy slipper boots. Edward took the throw blanket off the end of his bed and wrapped it around my bare, shivering body. Then, very gently, he pushed me back to sit on the bed.

"I wanted to give you a early present," Edward spoke softly as he ran his hands up and down the outside of my arms. When I opened my mouth to object, he cut me off. "Please don't argue, Bella, it's nothing big." _Well then...it's definitely not what I thought he was trying to give me...because Edward is certainly big.__  
__  
_He knelt down and pulled something from under his bed. It was a medium-sized rectangular box wrapped in an elegant silver foil paper. I pulled away the large red silk bow and opened the box. Nestled inside of the box and under a few sheets of tissue paper was the most exquisite cream-colored cashmere sweater dress.

It had a graceful cowl neck and cuffed sleeves and hem. As I pulled it from the box in awe I noticed the glimmer of the dress. A pale gold shimmery thread ran through the fabric, making the dress appear luminescent.

"Oh, Edward, it's beautiful," I gushed as tears threatened to spill from my eyes. I hugged him tightly, barely noticing his stiffness at first. "Edward what's wrong?" I asked when he still sat, arms at his sides, hands gripping the edge of the bed. As I pulled away to better look at him, I felt it-the chill of the air.

In my excitement, I had failed to notice that the blanket had dropped and left me exposed to Edward's hungry gaze. He looked straight ahead, refusing to look at me, and quietly said, "Um...yeah...my mom will come looking for us if we're not down there soon, so I'm going to stare at this spot on the wall until after you're dressed."

He sounded so flustered that I would have laughed at his unease if he hadn't looked like he was ready to lose it. I tugged the blanket around me, and while clutching the gorgeous dress, I hid in his bathroom. _How mature of us...we're a couple of hormone-stricken teenagers._

I showered and dressed quickly, pulling the soft warmth of the dress over my head. I waited as the steam dripped down the mirror and actually did a double take at my reflection. The dress fit perfectly, hugging my curves and falling at the ideal length. The glimmering strands set off the cream in the dress and my skin.

Applying some light make up and pulling my hair off my neck finished the look. I felt beautiful. Edward made me feel beautiful and comfortable in his parent's home.

When I walked back in Edward's room, he was seated in the same place, his eyes fixed on the same spot. "What do you think?" I asked as I stepped in front of him.

"Wow. Bella you look..." Instead of finishing, he stood and crashed his lips into mine. His kiss reflected his earlier hunger, and I returned it with a feverish passion. Our tongues collided and wrapped around one another. We broke apart, both of us breathless.

"Mom...breakfast...crap." Edward staggered his words between breaths. I took his hand and circled my thumb in his palm. Once I felt him relax and our breathing had returned to normal, I gave his a tug toward the door.

We made our way, hand-in hand, to the dining room. Everyone was already seated and even though Jasper looked irritated at having to wait for us he didn't say anything rude.

Once we sat down breakfast flew by; everyone was anxious to get to their gifts. Jasper held his tongue and was painfully polite while passing around platters of eggs, toast, bacon, and muffins. Then Alice and I helped Edward's mom clear the table and get cups of coffee-and tea, _Jasper_-to take into the living room.

_**-EPOV-**_

Ever since I was a little boy, I believed that nothing bad could ever happen on Christmas. It was the perfect holiday. Everyone put aside petty arguments to come together and enjoy time with family and people you loved. With Bella here, though, I was anticipating it being the best Christmas ever. I finally had someone I loved outside my family to share the holiday with, and I had never been more excited.

_Yeah, and that doesn't have anything to do with the small box waiting for Bella under the tree..._

Last night, after Bella had gone to sleep, I'd placed her last-and by far most important-present underneath the tree. I was dying with anticipation to give it to her. I couldn't wait to see her reaction to it...my palms were getting sweaty and my heart was racing just thinking about it. After finishing a delicious breakfast, with Jasper being civil to everyone (see, Christmas really just _is_ the best holiday), it was time to exchange presents.

My family did "rounds" of presents, where everyone would open one person's gifts to them at the same time. I was sure this tradition developed so Jasper and I wouldn't notice what the other got from our parents when we were little, but it had never changed, and I was kind of partial to it now. We were too old for the amounts of presents sitting under the tree, but my parents didn't really care-and neither did I. This was how we had always done Christmas in my family, and it was probably how it would always be-and how my kids would do it, too.

_Kids? Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves?_

Jasper decided that he wanted to hand out his presents first, breaking me away from my fantasy land where small brown-haired, green-eyed children sat on Bella's lap and tore open wrapping paper happily. Alice squealed as she opened her present, showing us that she'd received a CD and two tickets to a show by some band called Mount Eerie. I'd never heard of them, but Alice was definitely pleased. He'd gotten my mother an ornament, as he had every year since first grade, and my dad a stack of books that would probably end up on a shelf somewhere in his study. As I opened my present, I saw that Jasper had gotten me a subscription to Netflix, which was actually a pretty fucking awesome present.

I lifted my eyes to meet his, and he released a tentative smile. "I figured just in case your knee blows out, you might need something to do while recovering."

I laughed, seeing the insult through the gift. Thoughtful, yet still condescending. _Thanks, Jas. You're always such a sweetheart._ "Thanks, Jasper. I was actually thinking about signing up for it myself during off-season anyway. So, this is great."

Jasper looked shocked that I hadn't retaliated with some equally disdainful comment. But today was Christmas. I wasn't going to be callous on Christmas.

"You're welcome." Bella saw our friendly interaction and leaned her head onto my shoulder and snuggled closer into my side. I wrapped my arm around her waist, enjoying the soft cashmere beneath my fingertips.

My parents handed out their presents next, showering us with clothing, their trademark gift. My mom also included a scarf in my package, which I raised my eyebrow at. I lived in Phoenix where it was _never_ cold enough to wear a scarf.

"Don't give me that look, Edward Anthony. I'm not an idiot. I was just thinking of the power of suggestion."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway. My mother was too much. "Yes, mother. Because now that I have a scarf, I will most definitely move back to Connecticut."

"You know you're not going to play for the Cardinals forever," my mother added, fingering her thick strand of pearls.

"I know, and it's great." I reached out and kissed her cheek in a rare moment of open affection before sitting back by Bella. "If anything, it'll give me incentive to visit more."

"That's all I ask."

After all of the clothing had been opened and discussed, Bella handed out her presents, giving the gifts we'd gotten for my parents on the avenue to them-which they absolutely adored-and apologized for not having a present for Jasper or Alice. Jasper shrugged, saying that he hadn't gotten her anything either, and it was perfectly fine. To which Bella responded that she was probably going to use the Netflix account more than me, so, in reality, he had. And then, Jasper smiled. _He smiled...at Bella._ Like a civil human being, Jasper was making an effort to be a nice person to my girlfriend on my favorite holiday.

Like I said, nothing bad ever happens on Christmas.

"I guess it's my turn." My stomach was turning in knots, knowing that after everyone had received their presents from me...I'd be giving Bella her final one.

Jasper opened his gift and looked bewildered at the present in his hand. I wasn't sure what the reaction was for, so I explained. "I remembered that you said your iPod broke, so I figured you could use a new one...and there's an itunes gift card, too..."

"You remembered that my iPod broke? That happened in like August, Edward."

I shrugged, not sure how to handle his inquisitve response. "Yeah, I know. I bought it then so I wouldn't forget. Plus, I know you like to write to music, so I figured that must be a creative writing thing. Alice, I hope that's okay?"

She smiled as she opened her itunes gift card. I knew it was rather impersonal, but I figured that I didn't actually know her, so it wouldn't matter. "It's perfect, Edward! I've been dying to buy the new Imogen Heap album but have been budgeting. Wasn't that nice, Jasper?" Alice poked Jasper in the side, but he was looking contemplative. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me.

_Oh, well. Moving on._

"So, what now?" Bella asked, eyes sparkling.

"Uh, mom?" I asked, causing my mother to snap her head around to meet mine. "There should be one more present under there from me." My mother leaned down, her eyes bulging slightly at the size of the box in her hand before looking at me with tears in her eyes.

"I'm assuming this one is for Bella?"

I nodded my head, and Bella tried to turn and see what she was being handed before looking back at me with an angry expression on her beautiful face. "Edward! You already got me too much. I really don't need anything else. Being here with you and your family is more than enough, baby."

Unable to resist, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to her forehead before taking the small box from my mother's hand. "You may not need anything else, but I want you to have this, Bella."

Without another word, I moved the box into her hand and leaned back to watch her open it. Her face scrunched up as she unwrapped the box slowly, the green wrapping paper falling to the floor, crinkling loudly as it went. Then there was a sharp inhalation of air, and...silence. I lifted my eyes to hers. The box was still closed in her hand, and she was looking at it with trepidation. As I looked closer, I could see her hands shaking slightly. Her frightened eyes looked back at me as she breathed out a breathy, "Edward?"

I heard my mother's soft gasp, reminding me that we still had an audience.

I placed my hands over hers, steadying them, as we both opened the small box together, revealing the princess-cut platinum ring I had painstakingly picked out for her. "Bella, I love you, and I want this to be the first of many Christmases together. Will you marry me?"

"I...uh..." Bella's eyes darted around the room like a cornered animal, fearful for her life. The seconds grew longer as her breathing picked up, growing shallow and choppy. She looked back at me, our eyes locking, seemingly freezing time as I sat, hands still on the velvet box, waiting for her answer. Suddenly, her eyes closed, allowing two gentle tears to fall over her cheeks. "No." She said it so quietly, I was _sure_ I had misheard her. Then, she shook her head from side to side and closed the box, causing my stomach to drop to the depths of the floor, instantly making me feel nauseous.

"What?" My voice sounded strained, even to my own ears, disbelieving that Bella would turn down my proposal. It was Christmas-nothing bad happened on Christmas. How could this happen?

"No," she said more firmly, pushing the box back into my lap, as more tears ran down her cheeks. The box fell from my limp hands. I tried to swallow, but I found that I couldn't. "I...why would you do this Edward? You...you ruined...everything. We can't...I can't...I-I'm sorry." With none of her usual grace, Bella stumbled over the carpet as she turned and ran up the stairs, leaving me dumbfounded and feeling ill.

I gripped the velvet box in my hand so tightly that my knuckles turned white and wondered what the fuck had just happened. It was then that I heard her muffled sobs coming from behind my closed door. As my mother's trademark Christmas cocktail was placed under my noise, the rest of the room finally came into focus. Everyone had just seen that. I had been publicly rejected and humiliated...and turned down by Bella.

Upon that thought, I couldn't control my limbs as they darted across the room to the closest powder room, where I emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet. I heaved and retched until I could taste the bitterness of my own bile in my mouth, signaling that I had nothing more to give. Breathing hard, I wiped my mouth and leaned my forehead against the cool porcelain of the toilet as the rest of my body slumped down to the floor.

I couldn't move; I could barely even breathe. I was sure that the walls were closing in on me, giving me tunnel vision in which I had to replay Bella's rejection on repeat forever. I tuned out the garbled voices from the other room, hoping that I would soon wake up and this would all have been a terrible nightmare, but somehow I knew it wasn't.

After waiting God knows how long, there was a soft succession of knocks on the door. I tried to lift my head and respond, but I couldn't find the energy. Soon, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, circling over my back, pulling me to my wobbling legs.

"Come on, Edward," I heard the soft voice call as it led me past the table where the closed box now resided, taunting me with its very presence. I wanted to stand still and just stare at it, but the voice propelled me forwards, up the stairs, and into a closed room. My body was lowered onto a bed, and I laid on my side, wondering why the bed felt too soft beneath my exhausted body. I heard a chair being dragged across a wooden floor and realized that my room was carpeted. _Where the fuck was I?_ Looking up, I saw the cold blue eyes that I had least expected to see.

"Edward, can you hear me?" he asked, pulling the chair up right next to the bed. He handed me a tissue, and when I looked at it, confused, he rolled his eyes and wiped the tears away from my eyes. I hadn't even realized that I was crying. I couldn't remember the last time I had cried, even. Annoyed that Jasper was essentially taking care of me, and I probably looked like a pathetic mother fucker, I pushed myself back up into a sitting position. Taking in my surroundings, I realized that he'd brought me into his room-a place that I hadn't been allowed to visit in nearly twenty years. "I know this is a really stupid question right now, but...are you okay?" I laughed, a short bark of a laugh. "Like I said," Jasper continued, "stupid."

"No, I'm not okay. I don't even know why she said 'no.' Why the fuck would she do that? We've been going out for three years, Jas. Three years. And she turns me down without a second thought?"

"I'm not going to lie, Edward, I really liked her, too, until she pulled that stunt. Turning you down on Christmas morning in front of your family is all kinds of fucked up. She could at least have asked for time to respond."

"Or given me a reason," I barked angrily. I knew my anger was displaced and wouldn't get me anywhere, but I couldn't help it. She'd embarrassed me and ruined my favorite holiday. It wasn't fair. She owed me more than that.

"You need to calm down, though," he continued. Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and saw that it was a text message from Emmett, wishing me a Merry Christmas and wishing that Bella and I were around to hang out with. And then I realized that I didn't even know if Bella and I would be hanging out together once we got back from Connecticut. Suddenly, everything I'd planned for the rest of my life was up in the air, and I had no idea what to do about it. "Do you want me to get you anything?" Jasper asked tentatively.

"You're being nice," I commented brusquely. I didn't understand it, but I definitely appreciated it. He could have been gloating like hell right now, yet here he was trying to help me out. "Thanks."

He shook his head, looking sad, before placing a hand on my shoulder. "My entire life, all I've wanted was to see 'The Golden Boy' fall...fail at something." I cringed, realizing that he had just gotten his Christmas wish. "But seeing it happen, Edward, didn't make me happy at all. It just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. No one deserves to be treated like that. Not even my asshole of a younger brother."

"I'm four minutes younger than you."

"Still. I'm going to go make you some tea." I gave him a look. "Coffee?" he asked, giving me more options.

"Only if there's going to be a bottle full of Baileys in it." I tried to laugh, but I wasn't ready.

"One Irish coffee, coming right up." He gave me a weak smile, and I managed to return it. "I really am sorry, Edward."

"I know." The door closed, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again. After a few minutes of stewing in my own misery, the door creaked open, revealing a splotchy-looking Bella. I took in a shaky breath, knowing that even stained with tears, she was still the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen.

"Can I come in?" she whispered, her voice hoarse from crying. I nodded and waited for her to come towards me, solidifying our fate.

_**-BPOV- **_

I saw Jasper walk out of his room, and the glare he shot me did not go unnoticed. Inhaling deeply, I cracked the door open and peeked in. Edward looked like an awful, emotional mess. _God, I'm a horrible girlfriend and a bitch._

My voice barely audible, I asked permission to enter. Stepping in and slowly closing the door behind me, I was hit with an overwhelming need to wrap my arms around his shoulders and comfort him. Edward's tear streaked face was staring straight ahead at the wall, refusing to look at me. And I understood completely-I had ruined Christmas.

His parents had welcomed me into their home, Edward had made me feel welcome, and I had ruined it. I needed to fix this...or at least make him understand.

"Edward, I'm so sorry," I started to apologize, but knew that I needed to tell him everything behind my earlier refusal. Edward's shoulders tensed as he waited for me to continue.

"Edward?" I spoke, wanting him to look at me. He wouldn't look up; he just nodded for me to continue. "I need to take back the 'no,' I gave you earlier. I'm not saying 'no.' I was trying for...not right now." The tears were streaming down my face, and my words were becoming choked and short.

His beautiful eyes finally glanced up at me, and I saw the pain-but I also saw relief there. And that tiny flicker drove me to go on...well, ramble on.

"We can't get engaged yet, Edward. I'm so close to finishing school, and I need to be able to pay for it. If we get engaged, I'll get fired and won't be able to pay for school. And I need to pay for school, Edward, because becoming a sport's physician means so much to me. I want you to understand that I'm so sorry, and I didn't mean to ruin everything." The words streamed out of me in an incoherent mess of sobs and words.

But still, the words came in torrents now, unwilling to stop out of fear of the uncontrollable cries I felt creeping up in my stomach. "If we got caught in a relationship, I'd be jobless and kicked out of school, sitting at home while you're on the road. I mean picture it, Edward. A depressed fiance sitting all day at the computer in her robe and living on chunky monkey while you're away. Is that what you want? It can't be...because the mental makes me want to vomit. And the alternative, hiding our engagement...I can't do that either. I refuse to start out our lives together in some twisted up lie. It's not who I am. I won't."

I backed up to the door, feeling mortified and unbelievably sad while Edward just sat there and stared at me. I turned and grabbed the doorknob, needing to escape. Looking at my hand, I pictured what the ring would have looked like on my finger-causing grief and heartache to shudder through my body. "Edward, I understand if you don't want to wait and if you don't want me anymore. I ruined everything..._I_ don't want me anymore."

As I went to pull the door open, I realized that it wouldn't budge. I tugged and yanked, but it wouldn't open. And then I heard it...soft cries from outside the door.

"Well, I still want you, Bella." It was Esme...or at least, I thought it was. Her voice was rough from crying, and my guilt increased exponentially. "I've never seen Edward so happy or in love. And as badly as you both feel right now, it can be fixed. So, being the mother I am, I've locked you two in there until you sort this out." And with that, the hall was quiet.

We both were silent. Neither of us really wanted to get any further in this. The two of us were extremely stubborn and wouldn't leave until the other fully agreed to what we wanted. Emotions were too high for a understanding from either side at this current time.

"Edward?" I called to him, and he finally looked me in my eyes. "I _do_ love you and I _do_ want to be your wife. But I have to be able to stand on my own, too. We're only here for a few more hours, so why don't we put on our game faces and discuss this when we get home?"

I pleaded with him to understand that I wanted him, but I needed to do this for myself. He looked like he wanted to say something but then reconsidered, gave a head nod, and stood. I walked timidly over to him and tried to give him a hug, but my hug was met with the same stiff posture he'd had this morning when I'd been nude. Only now I was fully clothed, and he still wouldn't embrace me. I felt his hand travel over the sleeve of my cashmere dress and then watched as he yanked away from me.

"Yes, game faces...something we're both good at," he spoke under his breath. I wasn't exactly sure of what he'd said, but I decided to let it go for a few more hours.

**A/N: Okay, please don't hate us. All couples have disagreements. LOL Man, don't family gatherings bring out the _best_ in us all.  
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**So who do you think is more at fault here? And what was your worst Holiday fight?  
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	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, so here's the aftermath of the proposal. Hope y'all enjoy it. This is my fic collaboration with leiecullen17 for the TwiFic Gift exchange-our recipient was MrsAc.****  
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****SM owns all the Twi stuff, we just put them in uniforms to play dress up.****  
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**_**-EPOV-**__**  
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I sat on the plane, itching to push back the stray strand of hair that had fallen onto Bella's forehead. I couldn't believe that it was the day after Christmas, and we were already heading home. Our tickets had been booked to stay in Connecticut through New Years, but clearly that wasn't going to happen. I called up the airline and got on a flight easily-after all, I was Edward fucking Cullen.

"Mr. Cullen, do you need anything?" the obnoxiously sweet stewardess asked for the ten billionth time since we'd taken off.

I shook my head brusquely and made the split decision to push aside the offending piece of hair on Bella's cheek. She tensed underneath my touch as my thumb brushed across her warm skin, and I retracted my hand nervously - I had no particular inclination to lose my hand...that would pretty much end my football career. Instead of waking up and pushing me away, though, Bella sighed and grabbed my hand. She pulled in to her lap, gripping it tightly, as the rest of her body relaxed and molded against my shoulder. She looked so at ease and happy; I could have cried again. It seemed I'd been doing a lot of that in the past twenty four hours.

_I walked out of Jasper's room with my "game face" on, as Bella had referred to it. I smiled and appeased my mother as she stood waiting in the hallway, telling her that Bella and I weren't breaking up, but we were going to get back to Arizona early to work things out. My mother didn't buy a single word of that.__  
__  
__As Bella scurried off to pack up her things from my room, my mother grabbed my hand, stopping me from following. Without a single word, she led me into her bedroom-a place that I hadn't visited since I'd been a boy. She sat down on her large white chaise lounge and poured herself another cocktail-well, I thought it was for her until she handed it to me. I sniffed at the offending drink, figuring that a glass of bourbon probably wasn't exactly what I needed right now, but my mother wouldn't have any of that._  
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__"Edward Anthony, this is a $40,000 bottle of Macallan whiskey, and you will not offend me by turning it down when you so clearly need it. Now, drink up."__  
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__I nodded and took a large sip, marveling at the easy way the whiskey slid down my throat, as my mother retook her perch on her chaise. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed before taking another large sip. She looked up at me expectantly before smiling and patting the cushion beside her. I sat down and relaxed into the plush fabric of the couch, fitting myself against my mother's side comfortably. I took another large sip, finishing off the whiskey before handing the empty glass to my mother. She took the glass and rested it on the liquor table before turning her smile into a tight straight line.__  
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__"Talk."__  
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__"What is there to say?"__  
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__"What happens when you get back to Arizona?" She grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently within hers to let me know that she was being stern, but it was only because she wanted me to do well.__  
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__"We talk some more, and we figure it out." I groaned. "I just don't understand her reasoning for saying no." I stopped myself. "Sorry, asking for more time."__  
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__"She just wants more time?"__  
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__I nodded grimly. "Apparently I sprang this on her out of nowhere, and despite the fact that I could easily pay for her education, she insists on hiding our relationship and paying for school herself with her cheerleading job. It's just...how can she so easily say no when her reasons are so easily fixed?"__  
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__"Think about it from her perspective, though. She just wants to be able to pay her own way through school. I've barely known her a few days, and even I know that's something she would be hard pressed to give up. I don't think it has anything to do with her love for you, Edward. That is apparent to everyone. Even your brother said something about it, for God's sake."__  
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__I sighed and my mother shifted so I could lay down with my head on her lap. I felt ridiculous. Here I was, a twenty seven year old man, who was being comforted with head pets by his mother, but it had been a rough day...and God damn it, I was okay with that. Suddenly, the dam that I had built broke again as I felt my mother's wedding ring catch and pull at the strands of my hair.__  
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__Inhuman-sounding, whiny moans wracked my body as it shuddered under the impact of my sobs. I couldn't remember the last time before today that I'd cried, now here I was on round two. And all because the love of my life decided that she wanted to _wait_ to get engaged. I was truly fucked in the head._

I was awoken by a sudden throbbing in my left hand, and I realized that Bella had been squeezing my hand so tightly that it was now asleep. The plane was already taxing down the runway, approaching the gate. I guessed we were both emotionally wiped out. As I tried to pry Bella's fingers from my own, she suddenly started to stir and awoke with a gasp. She looked down at our still-intertwined hands and mumbled an apology before straightening out her hair, allowing the blood to rush back into my fingertips. It hurt like hell, and I already missed her fingers around mine.

Things with Bella were suddenly awkward, and I had no idea how to proceed. In all the years we'd known one another, we'd never been awkward. We'd been snarky and comfortable and sweet and had enough sexual tension to light up an entire nation, but we'd _never_ been awkward. And I had no idea what to do.

The drive back to my house, where Bella had left her car, was quiet. I turned on the radio, switching whenever a song came on that reminded me of her-which was far too often. We piled out of the car, and we both reached for her suitcase at the same time. Seeing her angry look, I quickly released the bag and relinquished it to her.

"So-" we both began at the same time.

I smiled and let her go first. "No, you." She shook her head and motioned for me to continue. I had no inclination of what to say, but I figured that I couldn't let her go without her knowing how I felt about her rejection reasoning.

I cleared my throat and grabbed her hands, trying to make her understand my side. "Bella, I-I just want to make sure we're okay." She nodded tentatively, so I continued. "Good, because I wanted you to know that I'd pay for your schooling if that's the issue. I just want to be with you."

I didn't know what I'd said, but suddenly her face was filled with rage. She paced over to her car and threw her suitcase in and slammed the door before turning back to me, fuming. "You'd pay for my schooling if that's the issue?" she raged, her voice taking on a mocking quality. _Uh oh. This is not good._ "Like I'm some fucking whore? Or kept woman? How can you propose marriage to me and not know that I wouldn't be okay with that solution, Edward?"

She pressed her tiny body against mine, finger poking at my chest, while hers raised and fell with the exertion of her anger.

"Not like a whore," I raged back, my patience subsiding quickly. "Like a wife!" Her face dropped and the tension disappeared from her arm, letting it fall to her side. "I mean-" _Fuck. I fucked this up badly, didn't I?_

"If that's what being your wife entails then I don't want it, Edward." Her voice was cold and her eyes had lost their passion, meaning that I had succeeded in truly pissing her off beyond repair right now. I had no words, nothing to make the pain go away. She turned to get into her car, and I lost it.

"Bella!" I shouted, running over to stop her from getting into her car.

She looked back up at me, and I saw the tears pooling in her eyes. She blinked once, propelling them down her cheeks, and I struggled to fight the urge to wipe them away. "You need to let me have some time." She took in a deep breath and averted her eyes, kicking the asphalt beneath her shoe. "And I don't think we should talk for a while."

"But-" I grabbed her arm, hoping I could work _some_ sense into her.

"Let me go. Right. Now," she spat angrily.

Resigned, I let her go and watched as she got into her car and sped off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The rest of the week didn't improve much. I attempted being social and going out. The guys on the team were happy to have me back in Arizona; they were thrilled with the prospect of partying with the infamous Edward Cullen. Needless to say, I wasn't quite in the partying mood, but I figured that going out was probably a better idea than hanging out in my empty house, wondering what Bella was doing at that very second.

So, I showered and put on some clean clothes and headed to meet some guys for a few drinks. Emmett was there, and he looked genuinely shocked to see me. I'd forgotten that I hadn't told him I'd returned from my nightmare of a trip.

"Yo, Edward! What'cha doin' back in AZ? Shouldn't you be with your family still?" He jumped up from his seat at the bar and slapped my back. I smiled pathetically in return, and he looked concerned. "Shit, man. What the fuck happened to you?" I nodded in the direction of a table in one of the dark recesses of the bar. He understood my nonverbal communication, holding up one finger to turn around and ask the bartender for a pitcher of Bud and two glasses. _My savior._

We trailed back to our own private table, and he filled my glass all the way up to the top, letting the foam trickle down the sides before pushing it towards me. I gulped down half the tall glass before pushing it back for a refill. Emmett did so quickly, and I took a long, slow sip before starting in.

"I think Bella broke up with me."

Emmett started choking mid-sip of his beer. Coughing and sputtering, he looked up at me with confusion. "What? Why? Really? I, uh...why haven't I heard anything?"

"I proposed to her," I whispered into my beer. I looked back up where Emmett was staring at me, as if he were still waiting for me to say something, so I tried a little louder. "I proposed-"

Emmett held up his hand. "Yeah, uh, I heard you the first time, Edward. Are you...she said 'no'?"

I sighed loudly and gulped down the rest of my beer, starting to feel the buzz. I took control and filled up my glass again. "She said, 'not right now,' but then I pissed her off, and I haven't heard from her in days...and, fuck, Emmett. I think I really fucked this up, and I have no idea what to do." I looked at my filled glass and laughed, raising it towards the ceiling. "So, I'm going to drink."

The rest of the night became somewhat of a blur as the rest of the team piled into the bar. I got pretty tanked, and the next thing I knew, Jake was patting me down.

"Twenty-one, what the fuck?" I slurred, stumbling slightly.

"Edward, where are your car keys?" _Why did Jake sound sober? I thought everyone was drinking tonight. Where's Emmett?_

Jake smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Emmett had to take a phone call, but he's right over there. He wanted me to make sure you don't drive home tonight, so I'm gonna hold onto your car until tomorrow."

My head snapped toward the direction in which Jake had pointed Emmett out, not even processing that he had just told me he was going to be in possession of my baby for the night.

"Yeah...no, he's going home soon...if you and Bella want to come in a bit, he should be gone by then..." Emmett spoke into his phone. All I heard was "Bella," before I was out of my seat, reaching for the phone.

"Jesus, Edward, what the-"

"Bella!" I shouted into the phone, peering into it as if I could see her through the connection. "Bella!"

"No, it's Rose," she said in a clipped tone.

"Rose, I need you to put Bella on the phone, please," I begged, uncaring that the rest of my team was around me and could possibly hear what was going on.

"That's not a good idea, Edward." I heard a muted gasp in the background, and I realized that Bella must have been standing with Rose and heard my name. But she wasn't getting on the phone or making any move toward it. I was utterly crushed. I'd thought maybe she'd want to talk to me if I called first. Apparently not.

"Please, Rose. Pleassseee! I just-I just need to telll her sommmeething, pleaseee."

Rosalie sighed loudy, and I could hear shuffling on the other end of the line. I hoped against all hopes that she was handing the phone to Bella, but I wasn't that lucky...as was per usual recently.

"Edward, she doesn't want to talk to you right now. You're wasted. Is there anything you want me to tell her for you?" Rosalie sounded so sad. Was Bella sad, too? Or had she gotten over me? Had we really broken up? I hadn't really thought we had until tonight, but now I wasn't too sure. I needed to make sure she knew one thing if this was the end. Apparently I was silent for too long because Rosalie started talking again. "Edward? Edward are you still there?"

"What happened? Rose? Is he okay?" I heard my angel's voice call in the background, making my heart pound loudly in my chest.

"I don't know!" Rose's muffled voice respond before talking directly into the speaker again. "Edward, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

"Jusss," I slurred, and I could recognize that I was slurring now, but I was too far gone to care. "Jussst tell Bella I love her, mmkay?"

Rosalie sounded relieved when she said, "Yeah, of course I'll tell her you love her." There was a slight pause before Rosalie continued. "She loves you, too."

My ears perked up. "Really? Did she jusss say that?"

Rosalie chuckled, ignoring my question completely. "Edward, can you put Emmett back on, please?"

I grumbled and shoved the phone back in Emmett's face. He looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected me to give his phone back at all. "Hello?" He started chuckling, too, all the while looking me over. "Yeah, I know, baby. I'm going to give his car keys to Jake right now and follow them home."

I awoke the next morning with a splitting headache, but I vaguely recalled Bella telling me she loved me. Instead of calling to either confirm that love or get my heart stomped on again, I immersed myself in my new netflix account, watching every movie I could get my hands on. By the time New Years Eve rolled around, I had nearly watched everything in the "watch now" category of the service.

Around five PM, I received a text from Emmett.

_**Happy New Year's. Do you have plans tonight? - Em**__**  
**__**  
**_I typed up a quick response: _**Ryan Secreast and a ball dropping. Two things that should never be in the same sentence.**_

_**And he has a sense of humor again. Hallelujah. Can I call off the dogs? - Em**__**  
**__**  
**__**Please do. I'll be fine. Have fun tonight. I'm assuming tell Rose and Bella I say hi.**_

There was a brief silence in which I wondered what I could have possibly said wrong before Emmett wrote me back again.

_**It's just me and Rose tonight. You should call her. - Em**__**  
**__**  
**_Instead of replying with my real thoughts, which were, _Really? Would she want to? Would she even answer the phone?_ I copped out.

_**Happy New Year, Em. See you at practice in two days.**_

Bored to tears, I decided to make some dinner and watch a few episodes of _Criminal Minds_. But I got distracted with a particularly gripping episode and burned my dinner. If Bella were here, she would have made fun of my complete inability to make in the kitchen. Thoughts of Bella only made me more upset, so I decided to order in some of my favorite Thai food. Before I knew it, my eyes glanced over to my clock. 11:25 PM, it read. 11:25 on December 31, and I was alone, watching Ryan Seacrest on NBC, waiting in vain for my phone to ring.

11:58 PM, and I still couldn't bring myself to pick up the phone. Instead, I sat staring at the television, always keeping the phone in my peripheral vision. 11:59 PM, still nothing. I rang in the new year with Ryan Seacrest, some pad see ew, and a heavy heart.

At 12:01 AM, my phone rang, and I jumped up, not even bothering to look at the caller ID. "Bella?" I said, far too excitedly.

"Uh, no, man...it's Jasper," the saddened voice on the other line rang out.

"Oh. Sorry, I-"

"It's okay, Edward. I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year. Alice sends her love, too."

"Thanks, Jas. Happy New Year to you, too." We chatted amicably for another three minutes before I gave up all hope of Bella calling and decided to call it a night.

I was so emotionally exhausted that I was asleep before the clock even hit 12:15. I didn't get Bella's text until the next morning.

_**Happy New Year, Edward**_, it read. No, "xx, B" that usually accompanied her texts. I didn't even bother to write back. My heart had officially been broken.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_**-BPOV- **_

Christmas had been a beautiful disaster. Everything had begun perfectly. Edward's family had been accepting and warm and made me feel a part of their holiday traditions. And then out of nowhere, Edward proposed.

I hadn't meant to give him an outright 'no,' but he had caught me off guard. The night before he had pinched me when I told his high school sweetheart they we were in a committed relationship. "No," had been the only thing I could manage to say before the tears streamed down my face.

Then, I'd gone to him and tried to explain, but Edward had been so damn stubborn. I could tell that even though he'd heard my reasons, he hadn't listened-all he'd seen was that Id rejected him.  
_  
__There were hours ahead of me until it would be time to go to the airport, so I did the mature, responsible thing-I hid in Edward's childhood room, away from him and his family. Pacing the room and studying the shelves in his room, I spotted them...yearbooks.__  
__  
__The signature pages at the front were filled, making the page appear more zebra striped then a flat white. __Of course Edward was popular. The middle of the annual had a fold out center that showed the student voted winners of categories.__  
__  
__There was a Best Dressed, a Best Looking, Best Eyes, Most likely to Succeed, and a Biggest Flirt. __And surprise, surprise the popular vote went to...Edward Cullen. I slammed the book closed and heard laughing behind me.__  
__  
__I turned and was met with the sympathetic, smiling face of Esme.__  
__  
__"You're right, Bella, he was always the popular vote." I hadn't realized I had been venting out loud until then. She picked up the yearbook and leafed through the pages, stopping when she found what she was looking for. Esme turned the book in my direction, and I saw the side by side pictures of Edward and Jasper.__  
__  
__Edward looked happy and smug-as always-and Jasper wore the same uptight, pretentious expression I had seen yesterday. "Not much has changed has it?" I quipped.__  
__  
__"Oh no, so much has changed. They're speaking again and that's huge." She laughed, and then Esme did something I didn't expect; she wrapped me into a warm motherly hug. "Are you doing okay, dear?"__  
__  
__I couldn't believe that after the mess I had made of everything, she was concerned about me. The tears began to sting my eyes as I fought the urge to let them run freely down my face. I nodded into her shoulder. I couldn't bring myself to speak. All I could think about was that I had hurt Edward-her son- and she still cared how I was feeling.__  
__  
__"Listen, Bella," she spoke softly as she pulled me down to sit next to her on the bed. Holding my hands in hers, she started. "Edward has always had everything come to him so easily, and he's never really had to work at anything."__  
__  
__I didn't interrupt her, because I needed to know where she was heading with this. I stared at our clutched hands and let her continue. "He was a natural at football, his schoolwork just came to him, as well as the girls." I looked up then and caught her smiling at memories. "I mean, can you imagine? They used to call the house nonstop or even just show up. It was all a mess."__  
__  
__I smiled at her laughter, imagining just that. The women in Arizona threw themselves at him, found their way to his hotel...and occasionally to his room. He had always turned them away, but still, I knew what she was saying.__  
__  
__"And my Jasper had to work at everything. He's always been so smart-too smart, you could say. He could read and figure things out-equations, problems-pretty much anything, except other people. He had the hardest time understanding why they didn't know the things he did and couldn't relate to them. Edward's popularity only made it that much harder for him."__  
__  
__"Now you, my dear" she patted my leg "you have made him work every step of the way. And I think that's a good thing, and it's probably why he loves you so much."__  
__  
__I stopped her. "Esme, I'm so sorry."__  
__  
__"Bella, you don't need to be sorry." I tried to talk again, but she held up a single finger, telling me to let her finish. "You and Edward...had you ever discussed marriage before?"__  
__  
__"No, we hadn't...not until today that is." My voice cracked, and once again, I pushed the tears away.__  
__  
__"Then, you have no reason to be sorry." She squeezed my hand reassuringly. "I've only talked to you for the past two days, but I know how proud you are of your schooling and that you've done it on your own. You are an independent woman, Bella Swan, and Edward should have thought his proposal through. He's irrational and emotional and didn't think that it would be anything but easy."__  
__  
__"Oh." That was all I could say. She had picked up on things I held highly in two days, where Edward had glossed over them for years.__  
__  
__"I think you should continue to make him work for it," she said, and my head snapped up. __I couldn't have heard her right, could I? "Yes, you heard me correctly." _Crap,_ I'd said that out loud.__  
__  
__"I love my sons, both of them-and I expect them to be wonderful husbands one day-but my Edward has to think of what this will bring to you both, not just himself. So, give him time to realize, Bella. Let him understand, and I promise you, he'll prove to be everything you could ever want."__  
__  
__She hugged me again and quietly left the room. Edward was already everything I wanted; I just needed be able to finish what I started.__  
__  
__I rolled over in bed and clung to the blanket wrapped around me tightly._

We had left his parents house in silence and headed to the airport. The plane ride home had started in complete silence, and I gave into the stress of the day and fell asleep.

My dreams had been awful. One second I was holding Edward's hand and the next he's was fading away into nothing. The plane's descent woke me up and propelled me right back into another fit of silence.

My thoughts had been that the strained uncomfortable silence would have given him time to see my reasons behind waiting. Unfortunately, in front of his house, he proved that the silence had only reaffirmed his position. _Why not now? Why not let me pay for your schooling and everything? Why not...why not...why not?_

He. Still. Didn't. Get. It.

I'd worked hard my whole life to get where I was. Renee was not one of those, "You have to go to college" or, "You have to be successful" touting parents. She was of the "I just want you to be happy" hippie-minded parents.

Studying hard and giving up parties with friends had not been an easy choice for a sixteen year old, but I had made it. I'd graduated near the top of my class, and I'd had enough extra-curriculars to be rewarded a college scholarship. It had covered most of my expenses for an undergrad, but now that I was in grad school and trying to achieve my dream...scholarship levels were not as high.

I had done cheer in high school-one of those extra-curriculars I mentioned-and when I saw that the Cardinal's were recruiting, I tried out for it. I'd been surprised when I had gotten selected-and even more so that I'd found a best friend in Rose and my true love in a cocky, self-centered quarterback named Edward.

Then for three years, we'd had to keep our relationship a secret. In the four years I'd known Edward, I had told him countless times how proud I was to have put myself through college. And how I wanted to practice sports' medicine and would be able to support myself, instead of depend on someone else completely-as Renee had.

I needed to be self sufficient, and he knew that. So how could he act as if his proposal negated everything I had worked for since I was in high school. Suddenly my anger rose and I no longer wanted to hug away his defeat. I needed to follow through on what his mother had told me-make him work for it...make him understand my side of things.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The week following the explosion in front of his house followed the growing trend-silence. Then, after of a few nights of crying and moping about-not to mention sleeping in Rose's bed with her-Emmett called.

I heard her mention Edward's name and ask who was driving him home. My curiosity got the better of me as I listened in. He went out for drinks? He was out partying with the team while I'd been sitting at home, crying over everything?

"That's not a good idea, Edward," Rosalie chided, as if she were speaking to a child, and I realized that she must be talking directly to Edward now. Edward was out with Emmett...drinking. I gasped slightly at the realization, but I couldn't bring myself to move. I stood, completely frozen.

Rosalie's eyes glanced over at me before she sighed loudly and placed her hand over the receiver. "Bella, he's completely sloshed and asking for you. I highly advise you don't talk to him when he's this belligerent. He can barely complete a coherent sentence."

My stomach clenched, and I resisted the urge to dive for the phone and burst into tears. Edward wasn't a drinker. If he sounded belligerent, it was because he was upset...with me. Without saying a word, I shook my head side to side, afraid that if I tried to vocalize a response, my voice would crack and betray me.

"Edward, she doesn't want to talk to you right now. You're wasted. Is there anything you want me to tell her for you?" Rosalie sighed, sounding incredibly sad. I bit my lip, waiting to hear if Edward had anything to tell me, but he never answered. Rose started looking a bit worried, and I wondered what could possibly be going on on the other side of the line. Edward was really a terrible drunk; I had the first-hand experience to know. "Edward?" Rosalie began again, panicked. "Edward are you still there?"

"What happened? Rose? Is he okay?" I couldn't resist but to ask. I was seconds away from hopping into the car and getting him myself. As it was, Emmett had been trying to convince us to meet him at the bar in the first place. Could it really do that much harm to go earlier and help him out?

She put her hand over the receiver. "I don't know!" Turning back to the phone, she spoke clearly, hoping to contact the drunken boy on the other end. "Edward, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Rosalie flipped around to look at me and sigh in relief as soon as he came back over the line. "Yeah, of course I'll tell her you love her."

With tears burning in my eyes, I turned around and went to hide in my room. I didn't want to listen to the end of that conversation. I couldn't. I refused to give in and break down like some pathetic, helpless woman, running back to her man. I thought over Esme's words; I would make him work for it.

When New Year's came around, Rose begged me to go out with her and Emmett, but I didn't think I could stomach being in the same room as the happy couple for that long. Plus, I desperately wanted Edward to come to his senses and show up at my door, begging for me to come back. The whole night, I stayed in bed, watching Ryan Seacrest while scarfing down a pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream. When 12:24 came around, and I realized that I was still alone, I typed out a text wishing Edward a happy new year, flipped my phone closed, and hid under my covers to cry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I sat on the turfed ground at the Cardinal's field and started stretching for practice. Edward walked right past the entire cheer squad and said nothing, not even a side ways glance.

And as mad as I was at him, the look of his ass in those tight-fitting football pants set my crotch on fire. I felt a breath on my neck, and when I whipped my head around, I very nearly kissed Rose on the mouth. Well, kiss was a strong description...it was more like my lips almost smacked into hers.

Rose, never missing an opportunity, dove right in to mock me. "Well, Swan, if you were into me, all you had to do was say so." She winked and made kissey noises. "I mean, you're just across the hall."

I laughed, and I mean _really_ laughed, for the first time in over a week. Rose smiled wide and then kissed my cheek with a loud wet smooch.

The screechy voice came before the snickers. "See, I told you they were lesbos," Lauren yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear-including Edward.

"Yup, figures." Jessica the harpy added. "You never see them with a guy, and they always act so stuck up around the players."

"And they live together, Jess, don't forget that." Lauren's high-pitched, screechy voice abruptly died down, and I turned to see what the cause was.

Rose had strode from behind me and stalked towards the twin blonde bitches. "Listen here and listen good," Rose's finger jabbed at the 'Blow me Twins' (what the players called them). "Say one more thing, and I'll bust open your lips. See how many guys talk to you when you can't perform your duties."

Her snide comments caught the girls off guard; we usually ignored them. Rose was fierce, tall, gorgeous, and-to top it off-not a slut. She was intimidating, and more of the squad liked her than they did Lauren and Jessica, which the two of them were learning quickly.

Everything came to a screeching halt, however, as a very pissed off Edward got close to us. "Some of us are trying to practice, and if you girls can't keep the high school antics to a minimum...get off the field." Then, still not looking at me, he turned on his heel and stomped back over to the huddle of players.

Some unhappy grumbling and a "what's his problem?" rang out before the girls shrugged it off and went back to prepping for warm ups. I stayed sitting on the rough turf but turned to where I could watch him.

He got sacked several times and was throwing the ball long-or just lopping it away. I stood and began to warm up, but I could hear the coach yelling over everything.

"Cullen! What the hell is going on?" Edward shook his head, shrugging off the coach's comments, but he wasn't having any of that. After all, his star player was acting completely out of character. "Get your shit together. You need to get your head back in the game!." A very frazzled and aggravated Edward apologized but continued to have a bad practice.

The next day was even worse. Our game against the San Fransisco 49ers was a blow out...in their favor. Edward had got the lowest stats he had ever received, and people were getting angry and all together upset. Some thought he was sick, while others thought he was losing his golden touch. None of them guessed the correct reason, which I knew without a doubt was...me.

I wanted to talk to him so badly, to comfort him and have him comfort me. Instead, I stood and watched him suffer his worst career defeat. Esme's words rang through my mind.

_"...my Edward has to think of what this will bring to you both-not just himself. So, give him time to realize, Bella. Let him understand, and I promise you, he'll prove to be everything you could ever want."__  
__  
_Other than a drunken phone call while out at a bar, he had made no other attempt at contact. He hadn't called or even texted me. I had reached out on New Years and sent him a text, but I had yet to receive a response. I could not be the one to give in. This was my life and our future.

So, when Rose came up beside me and gave me a concerned look, I smiled. "It'll be okay," I told her. "He just needs time to understand that I can't give up my dreams. I've worked too hard, and I'm only a few months away."

Rose hugged my shoulder as we walked to the locker room. I thought about Edward's loss today and over. He almost had flawless season. So, even with today's upset, the Arizona Cardinals still advanced into the playoffs. In the next ten days, they would play two games-hopefully-to decide if they were headed to the Superbowl. Edward's big dream...playing in and winning a Superbowl.

My anger bubbled, and my sadness grew exponentially. I wanted for him to understand that this was _my_ big dream. Edward was the love of my life, and I didn't want to lose him. I _couldn't_ lose him. But I couldn't lose myself in the process, either. 


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Woot woot, here is the sixth installment of lexiecullen17 and my fic exchange piece we worked up for MrsAC. I hope you do so enjoy what's coming...if y'all read my stuff you know I love having end up resolved...in one way or another. MWAH**

**SM owns all the Twi stuff I just put them in football and cheerleader uniforms  
**

_**-EPOV-**_

"Cullen!" my coach called out in the snippy voice he'd been using on me for the past week. Not that I could blame him; I'd been playing like complete and utter shit. My footwork had been sloppy and my passing had been atrocious. Every time I'd catch sight of Bella out of the corner of my eye, the rest of my body ceased to function properly. This was a major problem, considering we were now minutes away from stepping onto the field for our final playoff game against the Saints.

I turned around with a sigh. "Yeah, Coach?"

"There's someone out there to see you." He nodded towards the busted up hallway, still moldy with the after effects of Hurricane Katrina, and my heart nearly exploded. Was Bella coming back to wish me good luck? _Why would she?_ my head argued. _She hasn't so much as said a single word to you since her sorry excuse for a New Years text_. Resolved that it wasn't Bella, I made my way to the hallway with a heavy heart.

I nearly laughed at what I saw. Drew Brees, the Saint's very own QB, was there, already decked out in his black and gold gear, waiting to talk to me. I raised my eyebrow at him and slapped him on the back. "Drew? To what do I owe this pleasure? Isn't this breaking all sorts of rules right now?"

"Cullen, what am I going to do with you?" He shook his head and sighed. I'd known Drew since I started playing college ball at Berkley. He was somewhat of my predecessor, and I respected the hell out of him. We'd become acquainted somewhat socially, before he'd given up the party scene and gotten married. I cringed, merely thinking the word. "Man, I've never seen you play this badly before, and...while I'm not gonna go easy on you, I figured I should check and see if you're okay."

"That's actually really decent of you, Drew. But, yeah, I'm fine. Apparently the Golden Boy has just lost his touch," I admitted self-deprecatingly.

"Just so you know, I don't believe that for a second." It was then that the cheerleaders ran past us, making their way out to the field. I froze when I caught sight of Bella. She had clearly just showered and gotten ready, and even with the crowds of other people, I could still smell her shampoo. She kept looking better and better...without me. The thought made my stomach plummet. "Cullen?" Drew called. "Cullen, you still with me?"

At the sound of my name, Bella turned around and finally made eye contact with me. After a week of missing that, my whole body responded...included my cock. I'd never been more grateful for a jock strap than in that very moment. I cleared my throat and turned back to Drew, who was looking at me with a strange expression on his face. "What?"

"Never thought I'd see the day..." With a smack on my ass, he turned and was gone. "Good luck, Cullen! You'll need it."

Out on the field, I was still playing miserably. We were approaching the half, and we were down by twenty-four points-three touch downs and a fucking field goal. Two of my passes had been intercepted because I was throwing wide, and I'd lost my footing because of near sacks more times than I could count. Demarcus Ware was a recent trade from The Cowboys, and that boy had a serious talent for wiping out quarter backs - I was getting progressively more nervous every time my feet would sleep and he would get closer.

We were almost at the end zone - I could nearly taste the touchdown...God knew we _really _needed it. Twelve yards outside the end zone, second down and seven yards to go, my coach called the "Quarterback Sneak." It was a play that I usually mastered eloquently. Because of my quick feet, the fake out would work perfectly, and I could run the ball into the endzone without being detected. Today, however, I was nervous about this play. Ware had been eyeing me keenly, looking for any way to stop me, and that motherfucker was a God damned giant.

"Break!"

I got into my position and held the ball tightly to my chest as it flew at me from the hike. Stepping back, I faked handing it off to Jake, who took off through the players as fast as a speeding bullet. Damn, that kid could run. Seeing my empty path, I took a few steps forward, making a break for it. I'd been so focused on my path, that I didn't even see Ware coming at me until I was on the ground with pain coursing through my shoulder.

"Fuck..." I groaned, the big bear of a man on top of me. He rolled off, giving me room to breathe, when suddenly, the crowd burst into cheers. I looked up to realize that the forward motion of the tackle was enough to propel the ball (and me) into the end zone. Touch down! _Thank God._

I opened my eyes and saw Ware's apologetic face, and I knew that he hadn't intentionally hurt me. He was just a damn good defensive player. Smiling, Ware tapped my helmet before leaning down to offer his hand to me. I went to grab it, but I realized that I couldn't move my right arm. Holy. Fucking. Shit. I couldn't move my passing arm! Panicking, I started to breathe heavily, trying to stave off my hyperventilation. This was _not_ good.

"Oh, shit..." Ware mumbled as my arm gave out and my torso collapsed onto the turf once again. I stared up at the stadium lights as I heard people on the field cry out, "Medic! Medic!" The field went silent, and I could hear my own heart beating above everything else. There was a shuffle of people moving around the field, but I couldn't bring myself to care anymore.

Could today get any worse? I might as well just give up any dream of playing in a Superbowl. It was clear to me now that my dreams weren't meant to be fulfilled.

Suddenly, I was being lifted from my left side into a standing position by a rather strong medic. One look at my arm, and I knew that my shoulder had been dislocated. Perfect. What did that mean? Three to six weeks of recovery time? I was totally and utterly fucked for the rest of the season. If my mother had been around, I probably would have cried again. The stadium cheered quietly as I walked off the field and was taken into the training room to meet with a doctor.

Because we were away, none of our in-house doctors were available, and I would have to deal with the trainers for The Saints. However, I didn't trust a single one of them. If they so much as pushed my arm the wrong way, my career would be over. I knew that that was taking things a little far, but my trust in people had severely been diminished over the past week. What I needed was my actual trainer: Bella.

The doctor grabbed the end of my hand and made to push it back in when I cried out, "Wait! Stop!" He looked at me with confusion and I continued on quickly. "My doctor is here, and I'd rather she do it than you, if that's okay."

"Sure," the doctor agreed. "Is she on the sidelines?"

"She's actually out on the field...ask Coach to bring Bella Swan in here, please?"

The doctor nodded for one of his assistants to head out and get her, and I pondered what the fuck I had just asked him to do. All I knew was that I needed her. I trusted her with my life and my playing arm (which, essentially was my life). But it was in that second that I realized something incredibly vital, something that I'd failed to acknowledge for too long.

Bella was my life.

Even if I never played another day in my life, I'd always want Bella to be by my side. And I finally fucking got what she was saying. I had been an asshole and a half, not even considering how she felt about her own career, because clearly mine was just _so much more important_. Well, fuck that. It wasn't. Bella was and would always be the most important.

She ran into the room and skidded to a halt in the doorway, seeing me sitting on the table. "Edward?" she croaked out, and I smiled upon realizing that she'd actually come to me.

The doctor purveyed the situation with doubt written across his face. "This is your doctor? A cheerleader?" he sneered.

"She's not just a cheerleader," I responded, my voice ice cold. "She's my doctor. So, your services won't be necessary, doctor. But thank you for getting her for me."

The doctor rolled his eyes, clearly not believing a word I was feeding him, but as long as he still left us alone, I couldn't have cared less. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving me and Bella alone in silence. She crossed her arms, letting her breasts create the perfect amount of cleavage over the low cut neckline of her cheer uniform. _Drool.__  
__  
_I tried to shift my arm to motion for her to come over, but I'd apparently forgotten that it was dislocated. I cringed at the pain that shot through the disconnected joint causing Bella to rush over to stand in between my legs.

"Fuck," I groaned, clenching my eyes shut. Suddenly, there were fingers being dragged through my hair, pushing the sweaty strands out of my eyes. I let my eyes relax as I inhaled and exhaled slowly, succumbing to the easy calm she created.

As her hand continued to stroke my hair, her other hand traveled down my arm to hold my gimpy hand. She intertwined her fingers with mine and moved her lips to hover in front of mine, in the sweetest torture known to man. I went to lean forward to press my lips to hers when she pulled my hand towards her forcefully, clicking my shoulder back into place without warning.

"Jesus motherfucking Christ, Bella!" I panted.

She took a massive step backwards and smirked. "Can you move your arm?" she asked with little feeling.

I squeezed my hand into a fist before splaying the fingers, stretching the sore muscles that had just tensed to the point of searing pain. Satisfied with her work, Bella turned to leave, and I couldn't have that. Not at all.

"Wait, Bella! Wait, please!" She stopped in her tracks but failed to turn around and look me in the eyes. Oh well, I was going to do this no matter what. "Bella, I love you. I'm so in love with you, and all I want to do is be with you for the rest of my life. I don't need to win tonight or the Superbowl or even play again. Honestly, I'd quit football right now if it meant that you would be with me again." She turned around slowly, finally bringing her dark eyes to mine. I could see the wonder in them, so I continued with my rant. "Bella, I'm sorry that I ambushed you like that at Christmas. I know that it was wrong. It wasn't fair to you to ask you to give up something that obviously means the world to you. I finally get it. But, please, tell me what I have to do to get you in my life again. I can't focus or do anything without you. And-"

Before I could continue, her lips were on mine, and all was right with the world again.

_**-BPOV-**__  
__  
__Is it bad that I took a morbid pleasure it popping his shoulder in place without warning?_ No, I decided that it was at least a little bit owed to him. But Edward in pain did not make me feel any better.

I missed him-undeniably and irrevocably missed him. When they had carted him off the field, I'd been ready to toss my pom poms and rush after him. But, thankfully, the warning on Rose's face stopped me from doing just that.

Then, as if the heavens above were taking pity on me, the coach yelled for me to go back to the locker room. One of his shoulders was high and tight-up around his ears-and the other...well, it just hung there limply.

I knew that it had to be dislocated, and if it wasn't set properly, it wouldn't heal right. I leaned in near him and ran my fingers through his sweaty hair, matted to his forehead from the heat of his helmet. My lips drew closer to his-as if controlled by some cosmic force-and millimeters before they touched, I yanked his arm towards me and up. The disgusting click, snap noise let me know that I had succeeded.

My desire took over my senses; it had been so long since I had touched him or been so near his touch, and I knew that I was seconds away from breaking my resolve. But before I coud loose my nerve, I spun around to leave.

Edward's declaration of love stopped me dead in my tracks. And in the midst of his apology, I couldn't stand it any longer. Positioning myself between his legs, I twined my fingers back into his hair, the slick sweat making my grasp on his tangled tresses slide.

Edward moaned into my mouth as I bit down on his bottom lip. Suddenly, my head whipped backwards as a sharp tug on my ponytail forced my face up. His long graceful fingers gripped at the strands nearest my scalp. Then, I felt another sharp tug as he freed my hair from the restraints of its holder.

I felt my hair brush against my shoulders and my back. My fingers pulled Edward's face closer to mine. Our kiss became deeper and more filled with wanton need. His tongue ran along the back of my top teeth before swiping at at my upper lip and the delving forcefully back into my mouth.

Somewhere in my lust induced haze, I realized that the coaching staff-or that smart assed doctor-would be back by soon to check on their star quarterback's health. I decided to wait for the slow, seductive make up sex later. Right now I wanted primal, animalistic sex

Slowly, I pulled away from his kiss and pressed to chaste ones to each comer of his mouth.

"We need to hurry this along, Cullen," I cooed in his ear. "The second half will be starting soon, and you need to win this game for me." My teeth clamped down on his pale white ear lobe, to which Edward responded with a loud moan.

Pushing slightly on his good shoulder, he fell back onto the trainer's table with a soft thud and a quiet, "Ow, Bella."

"Shhh, Edward! As your doctor, I'm advising you to lay back and be quiet." I grinned wickedly as I checked to make sure the door was locked. "Now, Mr. Cullen, let me see if I can make you feel better today."

My right hand trailed languidly up high thigh and cupped his...well, cup. "Wow, baby, I didn't realize they made these this big," I announced, giggling at the sheer lunacy of it.

The criss-cross shoelace style tie on the front of his tight red pants gave way with a quick pull between my fingers. Then. my small hands smoothed the fabric out to his hips, curling around the hip pads. It took several short tugs to get the pants and jock strap low enough on his thighs to free his beautifully rigid cock.

His head made a dull noise as it fell back on the table when I took him inside my mouth. The salty taste of his pre-cum caressed my tongue as I flattened it and ran it along the tip of his head. "Do you like that, Mr. Cullen?" He groaned in response, which I took to be "yes."

The veins running along his dick protruded with the pressure that the hardness of his erection placed against the skin. I took the time to trace the map-like lines; feeling his pulse against my tongue was erotic and driving me wild.

"God, Bella, I've missed you," Edward professed to the ceiling that he was concentrating on. We didn't have time for this right now. I needed to speed things along.

Releasing his erection from my grasp, I hastily rid myself of my spanks and soaked through panties, the warmth of my mouth never leaving from around him. Finally, I pulled away from him, saliva coating him from tip to base. The training table would have been ideal to climb on top of him and ride him into orgasmic bliss, but it wasn't as wide as I would have liked.

Instead, I slid my hand into his palm and gestured for him to stand. Using my hand to keep him from falling-what with his pants pulled tight around his thighs-he steadied himself easily.

I peered at him through my eyelashes and stood on tippy toes to press a sweet peck upon his kiss swollen lips. Then, I shocked him again by winking and turning around.

Bending over the the table, my hands placed on the edge of the opposite side, I wiggled my bare ass in front of him.

"Oh shit," was the only thing I heard before I felt like I was suddenly emerged in deep ocean waters. My ears felt plugged and spots appeared in my eyes as Edward pushed inside of me. The feeling of him stretching my walls quickly took over and overpowered all my other senses.

All I could do was feel. His hands clutched at my hip bones as he found his pace, and my pussy pressed around him, caressing him with each deep, hard stroke. I could feel the pent up sexual tension with each powerful thrust.

"Mmm, so good, baby...Just...like...that." My words punctuated his forward movement as he propelled my body into the side of the table.

Needing to keep from getting bruises on my stomach (which would have to be on display throughout the entire second half of the game), I tightened my hold on the edge. My moans increased, now that he found no resistance. His slick, thick cock pounded into me. Faster. And. Faster.

There was a small stutter in his movements...I knew he was close. His gulped in breath after breath, tightening his hold on my hips and lifting me back on my toes. The new angle was all it took. He was driving deeper and hitting against my cervix now.

I swear to God, I could feel him in my stomach, which was tightening and sending waves of heat to my dick-filled pussy. I felt his touch outside of my shirt, his palm sliding up my back and resting on my shoulder.

My body balanced between the table and on my toes. My back arched and my shoulder pulled back, allowing Edward to fill me and push on my spot. I came undone. Wave after wave of multiple orgasms crashed of my body.

Edward's jerky ministrations mixed with mine, until he slumped over and pressed his chest into my back, leaving the two of us tangled in a mess of trembling, orgasm quaking limbs.

The knock at the door made us both jump and hurriedly right our clothes. I pulled back on my panties and spanks, looked over my shoulder at my dressed, bewildered boyfriend.

Unlocking the door and walking past the offensive coach, I called out. "Apology accepted, Cullen. Now go win the God damned game!"

I stepped in the ladies bathroom and made sure to fix my hair and make up. Also, I noticed that I had put my spanks on backwards...haha, that could have been awkward.

The smile that was permanently plastered on my face would not go away. I shrugged and gave up, walking back to the sidelines. I realized there might only be two people who would notice. Edward was playing in the game already and the other was...

"Bella? What in the hell?" Rose. Of course she would choose now to talk, and she would know. She stepped in front of me, and her face lit up. "Oh...um, never mind. I guess I know what happened, and I, for one, am happy." I laughed over her giddiness over my getting laid. "I mean, one more empty container of Ben & Jerrys, and I was going to get you off myself." She winked before her face fell into a hard mask.

"Ewww," I felt the presence of them behind me. Jessica snort/laughed. "Keep your lesbo activities at home."

"And, Swan, don't think you can just disappear during half time," Lauren sniped. "Coach wants to see you after the game." Her smug face told me that she was happy I might be in trouble. But I was freshly fucked and happy that I would soon be Edward's in the public eye, as well.

_Go ahead, you have only one game left...at most._ My inner voice compelled me, and it was the only push I needed. "Aw, look, Rose. They're jealous." I smiled sweetly as acid laced my words. "The reason they talk so much is that the guys make sure their mouths get a good workout." Rose's mouth gaped open, as did the banshee whores.

I usually let everything slide off my back and ignored it but not today. "What are you girls up to? Three, four times a week? Is it an everyday, twice-a-day type of thing now?" I shot at them and then turned to the crowd waving and smiling.

That's when I noticed it. The entirety of the SuperDome was on its feet and cheering. _Oh god, please don't let the Saints have scored again._ But the sideline murmurings left me even more confused.

"What a comeback," one of the coaches said behind his clipboard.

"Yeah," one of the players agreed. "It's like something jolted him awake, and he has to win."

I spun quickly to stare openly dumbfounded at the score board. The Cardinals had scored two touchdowns and were only three points behind the Saints with the two minute buzzer sounding through the stadium.

The clock would run uninterrupted, outside of out of bound runs and time outs. One glance at the field, and my breath caught in my throat. Edward. Had. The. Ball.

The poles along the sidelines read first down. So, in essence we had two minutes-and a minimum of four tries-to get another first down, and a field goal (which we were in range for) to tie the game, or a touch down to win.

I watched, mesmerized by Edward's amazing transition. His teammate was right; he looked as if he'd had electric shock treatment and was wired to go. Edward was quick on his feet in the pocket and when forced out, scrambled and found his open man.

The clock ticked down and a miracle happened. The stadium, full of New Orlean's Saints fans, stood on their feet and counted out the final minute of the clock.

Edward caught the snap, stepped back and then forward to launch the ball in a perfect spiral down field. Emmett's large form blocked defensive tackles and cleared the space for him to have the time.

Jake was so far down the field-and so near the end zone-that it was a long shot, and Edward would have to have laser-like accuracy for Jacob to make the catch. Holding my breath, I watched in slow motion, from the ripples in his muscles to the precision arc of the ball as it slowly descended into the waiting hands of Arizona's rookie wide receiver.

With the ball nestled in his arms, I heard the crowd erupt with chants of 'Wow's and 'Amazing's with, what I was sure was, a spectacular run into the end zone. Unfortunately, I couldn't see it; my eyes were locked with Edward's.

He grinned at me as the background filled with the crowd's yells.

"5...4...3...2...Oh, what an upset the Cardinal's have brought over the previously undefeated New Orleans' Saints," the stadium's announcer spoke frantically and full of excitement.

Edward only had time to cock a crooked grin in my direction before the stampede of his teammates overtook him. Rose rushed to my side and encased me in her arms. "One down, one to go, and then everyone can know how fucking in love the two of you are."

A soothing man's country accent called out to me. But he wasn't calling me Bella. No. The unknown voice yelled once more. "Hey, doc! Doctor Swan!" I turned, and standing in front of the huddle of both teams' players-all shaking hands-was the star QB for the Saints, Drew Brees.

"Yeah, you." He laughed heartily, and a baby-faced grin spread across his face. "Just between you and me, doc, I guess I have to thank you for today's embarrassing upset." My mouth fell open in shock. "I know no one else knows...so, like I said between you and me." He looked over his shoulder and saw Edward staring him down...again, he chuckled.

Before he jogged off, he smiled, tipped his head all gentlemen-like, and winked. I could almost swear that I heard Edward growl from where I stood. As Brees closed in on him, his stern face softened and Brees laughter echoed around them.

_**-EPOV-**_

As soon as Jake caught the ball, I turned all my focus to Bella. It was as if I'd just woken up, seeing with clarity for the first time in weeks, all because of her. I hadn't expected her to forgive me so easily, but God damn, was I glad that she had. My eyes bore into her head until she heard wild cheering (which I assumed was because of Jake running into the endzone) and her eyes snapped up to mine. An easy grin spread over my face. I tried to maintain eye contact with her for as long as I could, but I was soon being bombarded by my coaches, teammates, and the press.

I gave my few standard statements to CBS, who had been covering the game. "Yes, I think I got refocused after my injury. It made me realize how limited my time playing is, and I wanted to leave a positive legacy with a team that I love so much," I responded to the microphones in my face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Drew Brees talking to _my_ Bella. I knew that he was married, but I couldn't help but growl as he tipped his head and winked at her, causing her to blush. Using his southern "charm" I was sure. I was about to go over and ask him what he was saying to make her blush when he cut me to the chase and started jogging towards me instead.

"Congrats, Cullen," he said, smacking my good shoulder. "You've definitely got a keeper in that one. Don't fuck up again, okay?" He nodded towards Bella, and my insides automatically warmed. Had she been blushing because she'd been talking to him about me? But I thought we'd agreed to keep our relationship a secret still?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I joked.

His smile came back in full force as he leered at her. "Really? Then you wouldn't mind if I took her for a spin? That girl sure has a nice pair on her-" I didn't even let him finish his sentence before my fist was connecting with his crotch. He jumped back, but not before I heard the loud crack of his cup underneath my fist.

"Just making sure you were still wearing your cup."

He rolled his eyes knowingly. "Of course you were, asshole. Go. Your lady is waiting."

_Huh. _Apparently Drew knew...somehow. I wasn't going to put too much thought into it. Before I knew it, I was being dragged back into the locker room. I cleaned up quickly after we received our "rest up" lecture from our coach. The Superbowl wasn't for another two weeks, meaning that I had time to heal and recuperate. I knew he meant the lecture specifically for me, and I was glad to oblige.

After my quick shower, I was attacked by players on all sides. "QB 1, we're heading out for drinks, and you're expected to be there!" one of the players called from behind the lockers.

I shouted back, knowing that the only place I was going to be tonight was in my hotel room with Bella. "Actually, Doc says I have to stay home and ice my shoulder, but you guys have fun without me...you deserve it." I caught sight of Jake coming out the shower at that moment and flung my arm good around his still damp shoulders. "Especially you, Twenty-One. Thanks for having my back the other night," I whispered quietly, lowering my voice so only he could hear it. "I'm sorry it took me so long to say something. But I really appreciated it."

"No prob, Edward." He smiled back widely, and I was fairly certain that I'd just made the kid's night. Well, that, and he'd scored the winning touchdown, his rookie season. He was probably riding on Cloud Nine.

As I walked out of the locker room, I was assaulted by a little blonde thing. I wasn't sure who the hell it was until I heard her grateful voice in my ear. "Thank you. Whatever you did...just, thank you. I was getting really tired of coming home to a crying roommate every night." Rosalie pulled away as I gasped. Bella had been _crying_? "And if you tell her that I told you that, I will deny, deny, deny. Just...don't ever let that happen again. Or I'll junk punch you so hard you'll never be able to reproduce."

I nodded stiffly, feeling tears build at her words. Rosalie and I had never been incredibly close, but her words had quite the impact on me. She knew Bella better than anyone...well, not me. But everyone else.

Hopping into the bus, I saw that Bella was already inside, ready to head back to the hotel, too. Our coach entered the bus, looking at the half-empty vehicle before resting his gaze on me. "Cullen, you're not going out to celebrate tonight?"

"No, sir. I'm taking it easy," I said, pointing to my shoulder.

He smiled widely and nodded. "Good man."

The ride back to the hotel was excruciating. I could barely sit still, thinking about the celebration that was bound to take place in my room in mere minutes. Finally, we arrived, and I grabbed my keycard from my pocket, heading towards the elevator. I looked around quickly and remembered that we were all on the seventh floor, and I wanted to see if I could potentially change that.

I hurried over to the front desk, ignoring Bella's pointed stare. The woman behind the front desk smiled, but when her eyes caught mine, I saw the panic in them. "H-hello, M-Mr. Cullen. Welcome to the Windsor Court, how may I help you tonight?"

I smiled widely and glanced downwards at her nametag for slightly too long, making it seem as if I were checking out her rack. She blushed as my eyes rose back to hers. "Angela, is it?" She nodded, and I heard a soft sigh escape her lips. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"

"Of course, Mr. Cullen. Congratulations on your win tonight."

I nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, but aren't you supposed to be mad at me?"

The girl gasped loudly before shaking her head furiously. "No, no...I'm originally from Phoenix. I go to Tulane now, but my heart will always belong with the Cardinals, Mr. Cullen. Now, what do you need?" _Ah. A fan._

I leaned forward, resting my arms on the counter top, ignoring the shooting pain in my right shoulder. "Well, my teammates are all sharing rooms on the seventh floor, but I was hoping that I could get one that's a little..._more private._" I emphasized my words, so there would be no misunderstanding as to what I would be up to tonight, which...wasn't a lie. I was planning on fucking the hell out of Bella, if she'd have me. And though I wasn't looking at her, I could feel her steely gaze on the back of my head, letting me know that she felt similarly.

"Oh, right..." The girl blushed again, pushing her glasses up her nose as she clicked loudly on the keyboard. "Um, the only thing that we have would be our pent house. All of the single suites are booked up, due to the game." She flushed again under my eyes, and I started to feel a little bad for coming on so strong.

"What floor would that be on?"

"The twenty-second." She bit her lip and looked nervous. "It's also an extra $1500 for the night..." Laughing, I took out my wallet and produced my credit card. Bella being able to moan under me without abandon was definitely worth more than a mere fifteen hundred dollars. Instead of accepting the card, though, Angela pushed it back to me and shook her head. "No, sir, I wasn't insinuating that you pay! The Windsor is honored to have you stay here free of charge."

"Right." She nervously pushed the keycard in my direction, her breathing picking up. "Thanks so much for your help, _Angela_. Have a good night."

"You, too!" she called out to my retreating form, and I couldn't resist but to turn over my shoulder and respond.

"Oh, I'm planning on it." As I approached the elevator doors, Bella huffed and rolled her eyes. "How did you manage to escape without being seen?" I asked, still not looking her in the eyes.

"Went to the bathroom and came back to find you assaulting some poor girl."

"Assaulting?" I laughed, clutching my heart. "You wound me, Bella. I just got the hotel to comp our $1500 penthouse suite."

Bella let out a wheezing laugh as we stepped into the elevator. "You're shitting me. No fucking way. If that girl gets caught, she'll have to take $1500 out of her paycheck! Edward, you can't let her do that!"

"Bella, relax. I'm going to send her two Superbowl tickets with sideline passes. Poor thing was a _Cardinals'_ _fan_."

Bella leaned into my side, allowing me to wrap my arms around her as we stood. "Well, that's very sweet of you, Mr. Cullen. Aren't you just a gracious QB. Picking up on some of the southern charm, I see? Like that Drew Brees...he's very handsome, you know."

"He's also very married," I growled in response.

"Is he? He didn't mention that to me..." She smiled and we waited, watching the lights on the floors go on one by one until we finally reached the top floor. I knew she was baiting me, but it was working. I couldn't wait to throw her up against a wall and ravish her in the very near future.

The doors opened, revealing a beautiful luxury suite. As soon as the doors closed behind us, Bella was in my arms, her lips rubbing against mine with a furious passion. I didn't even pause to let her breathe before pulling down her pants. The spandex dance pants came off quickly, and I saw that she had foregone underwear already, making my job that much easier.

I moved my lips down to suck at her neck while she pulled at my hair roughly, igniting my lust. I leaned back and hastily pulled her shirt from her body, throwing it next to her pants. Completely naked, she sprang back into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist so she could rub her wet center against the silky material of my warm up pants. "Edward," she panted, grinding herself against my now very erect dick.

She slid back down to the floor and tugged on my pants, pulling them to the ground. As she worked on my boxer briefs, my t-shirt was removed from my body, leaving us both naked and panting.

"Edward, I missed you...so much," she began, still panting. I took a step closer and wrapped my arms around her waist, caressing the pimpled flesh that arose there. "I'm sor-"

"Shh, baby, I missed you, too. But this was my fault. You don't have to be sorry," I whispered into her hair.

"But I am. And I want to be engaged to you. I want to marry you."

My entire body froze, each of the muscles tensing and clenching at her words. I leaned back, looking at her with wonder. "You...wait, what? Bella, I thought you didn't want to-"

She pressed a chaste kiss to my lips and smiled widely. "In two weeks, Edward Cullen, I'm going to wear your ring and tell everyone that I'm yours forever. I don't want to wait a second longer, okay?"

My throat dried, reflexively closing in on itself, making it feel cracked and raw with emotion. _I think this is what they mean by "choked up," Cullen._ "Really?" I couldn't stop my hands from trailing over every inch of her skin I could reach. It rose and flushed under my touch, making my cock ache with need.

"I hate the way I feel without you. I never want to go through that again."

"Oh, Bella." With that, my lips crashed to hers again, my tongue exploring the recesses of her mouth over and over again. We moved lithely to the four poster canopy bed, still entangled in one another's grasps. She pushed herself backwards onto the bed, crawling on her elbows to sprawl out in front of me for the taking.

I took my time in worshiping her body. I kissed my way up her legs, starting with a wet kiss on each one of her ankles before moving up to her knees and then to the insides of her thighs, which were slick with her arousal. My nose pressed into her flesh, gulping down her heady scent and committing it to memory before swiping my tongue out to taste it. She whimpered my name and clutched at my hair, guiding me to her swollen folds. I lapped with abandon, letting my tongue find every nook and cranny, before finding the small bundle of nerves that she needed me to touch so badly. I sucked it into my mouth before laving it again and again. Her thighs tried to wrap around my head, but I refused and pushed them down, fastening them in place on the mattress. She climaxed with my name on her lips, and I had never felt more at ease.

My cock felt differently, however. It was dying to be inside her. Without giving her time to recover, I moved myself to hover over her body and plunged into her soaking wet core. She gasped, unprepared for my invasion, but recovered quickly. "Oh God, yes!" she cried out, sounding only a little bit like a porn star...but my own personal porn star, so I couldn't really complain.

I thrust in quickly but took my time pulling out, creating the perfect amount of teasing friction. Soon, her hips were in action, trying to guide me along faster, but I refused. I used my left arm to pin her hips to the mattress, while my other went to fondle the soft skin on the underside of her breasts. I swiped my hand back and forth, trying to prolong the sensations of pleasure coursing through both of us. I wanted tonight to be the best night ever. After all, the love of my life had just agreed to marry me.

"I can't...wait...until...you're...Mrs...Cullen," I moaned, punctuating my words with me prolonged thrusting. My words spurred on an immediate reaction from Bella, causing her walls to clutch my cock within its firm grasp.

"I can't wait to_ be_ Mrs. Cullen," she moaned in reply. Her words made me momentarily lose my pace, affecting me so greatly, and she took advantage of the situation. She sped up her own hips, rocking them into mine as she squeezed my ass with her heels, pushing me into her deeper and harder.

"Bella!" I was precariously close to the edge, and I let my head fall to her shoulder to breathe in the scent of her sweat to keep me grounded. I peppered light kisses along her neck and collarbone, letting my teeth graze the skin before dragging my tongue along the same spots. Unable to hold myself up any longer, I rolled to my back, bringing Bella with me. She leaned down, letting our chests, which were slick with sweat, rub against one another with her constant rocking. She leaned down further, capturing my lips with hers, essentially panting into my mouth, as she ground her clit into my pelvic bone.

"EDWARD, FUCK!" she shouted, her orgasm taking over in prolonged shudders. The sudden sporadic clenching of her walls spurred on my own climax, causing me to erupt within her. I clutched her back to me, guiding her movements until I shot my cool liquid into her. "I love you."

"I love you," I responded, although love was starting to feel like an inadequate word.

She collapsed onto my chest, keeping me within her until I softened and slipped out. I rolled her to my side, making us face one another. "So, you were serious? You really want to marry me?"

"No, I said it just to get laid." I was stunned into silence. Her tinkling laughter gave way and caused my heart to start beating again. "Two weeks, Edward," she sighed, leaning her sweaty head to my chest.

"Two weeks." And then the world would know that Bella Swan was mine.

**A/N: *gigglesnort* Sooo, chickadees how do we feel about this?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Alrighty chickadees, here's part seven in lexiecullen17 and my fic exchange piece-done for MrsAC. I really hope you all enjoy it. We are in the progress of writing an epi for this fantabulous one shot gone crazy long. **

_**As we all know SM owns the twi stuff. ;)**_

_**-BPOV-**_

Edward and I spent two weeks-except for practices-locked in his house half naked. He had even gone as far as to have groceries delivered, so that we wouldn't have to leave. There were two days when I was alone, while he attended practice. Because of my missing the halftime show, the cheerleading coach had wanted me suspended for the rest of the season.

Edward's coach intervened and told her that I had been asked to help with an emergency, that he had been the one to ask for my help. In light of his insistence, she told me to return to practice the next day.

I found myself cleaning, and all in all, feeling at home in Edward's huge house. Rose had packed some of my things in an overnight bag and had given then to Emmett for delivery to Edward.

The NetFlix subscription, Jasper had given, came in handy. We cuddled beneath a large chenille throw on the couch and watched everything imaginable. Exhausting the new release list, we delved into the classics.

Esme phoned the day before the Superbowl. She was concerned about our relationship and wanted to know why Edward hadn't called to let her know that everything was okay. She, evidently, also asked for my phone number so that she could check in on me-she thought I had looked flustered when she watched the game against the Saints.

Edward promised to call her later and that they would talk after the big game. When she pushed for my number the only thing he told her was, "Tomorrow, mom, tomorrow." He said with a wide spread grin. "Hey, mom, before you hang up... I love you and please make sure you guys watch the press conference after the game."

Then, before she could lay into the motherly guilt routine, he hung up.

"Edward?" I looked at his giddy expression. "Why didn't you tell her that we're okay? And what's so important about the press conference?" He just smiled even larger than before.

"Is it bad that I want you all to myself for one more day?" I laughed, shook my head, and pressed my lips to his. "And tomorrow, well, that's tomorrow," he spoke against my lips before pressing back into them.

"Bella...Bella" Rose touched my shoulder. "Honey, what's wrong?" She studied my face then without my answer continued. "It'll be fine today, the game will be great." She then leaned close to me and lowered her voice, glancing to make sure no one was listening in. "He'll be okay, I promise, and you my friend should enjoy your last game cheering."

Rose's excited intonation brought me back to realty. This would be my last game as a cheerleader. I hadn't even told her that I had finally accepted Edward's proposal and that after today I would be flashing his ring on my third finger. We were all going out to dinner, and the plan was to tell his family, Rose and Emmett together.

Then I would call my big mouth mom and tell her. I warned Edward that he wouldn't even get to do the honors of informing the media and his team. My mom would be blurting it across the nation seconds after I told her. Edward smiled and mumbled something about 'we'll see about that.'

Now, Rose and I were lined up in the tunnel leading from the locker rooms and out onto the field. The pre game show was always fun. The squad would get to preform and meet with a few of the spectators and cheer fans. You'd be surprised how many people are obsessed with NFL cheerleaders.

It's somewhat awkward at times when a fan knows where you grew up and went to high school. This was a small fraction of how fans dealt with the 'Golden Boy' Edward Cullen. They knew his shoe size and who he took to his prom.

With a final squeeze of my shoulder Rose grabbed my hand as we jogged out of the tunnel and into...Oh. My. God. The stadium was filled to the brim-a living sea of people all in shades of red, white, and blue. It looked like a huge patriotic splotch painting. The Indianapolis Colts, and Peyton Manning were the favorites coming into the match.

They crowd erupted into cheers as the players took the field for the opening kick off. Edward's eyes found me before he pulled his helmet on and strutted off to play in his dream game. I mouth 'good luck' and received a brilliantly white smile in return. Then he pushed his mouth guard in and was gone.

The game passed in a blur of penalty flags, touchdowns, and Sport's Center worthy plays. I was trying hard to focus on the key aspects but outside of my rehearsed cheer routines I could only see Edward-whether on the side lines or passing on the field. He had my undivided attention during those times.

The buzzer sounded loudly, indicating that the two minute mark had sounded. Soon, Edward would be in the locker room devising a new play list for the second half and I would be shaking it on the field to the music of The Who. The Colts scored with a kick just before time ran out in the second quarter-tying the score at 17.

_**-EPOV-**_

My shoulder was aching and the Colts were putting up quite the fight, but I was playing in a Superbowl game...and living out my dream. Not to mention I was engaged to the most beautiful woman in the entire world. I snuck out with Emmett and Jake (the only person on the team smart enough to figure out that Bella and I were seeing one another) to watch the girls perform at half time, and then I was forced to jack off before taking the field for the second half.

The third and fourth quarters seemed to drag on endlessly. Down after down would be stopped, turning over the ball in an endless cycle with no touchdowns. As I looked at the clock, seeing that we were tied at 1:04 minutes remaining and were tied, I decided to end this. The ball was in the Colt's possession, but in a sudden flash, motivation sprang up. I needed to win this game.

Just as I was thinking it, the Colts set up for a field goal and suddenly they had three points on the scoreboard. Down to :56 seconds, I knew that we had to win this. In our huddle, I decided to make an impromptu speech. The guys all circled up, and I looked into the eyes of my pseudo family. I loved these kids, and I knew that we were all going to remember this game for as long as we lived.

"Okay, everyone," I barked. "We're going slow and steady here. Out of bounds stops the clock, and I want our passing game on. No interferences, no blocking. Nothing. Just catch and run it as far as you can until you're forced out of bounds. Twenty one, you ready?" I looked to Jake, who was already bouncing on his toes, warming up to start running. I looked at each of my players and smiled, bringing on the arrogance of Edward fucking Cullen. I was going to own this bitch. "Break!"

I felt something slap my ass, and I realized that it was Jake. He had definitely come into his own, and I hoped that the coach was able to see that. He was no rookie anymore. He was now a rookie with a Superbowl game under his belt. He could do this. _We_ could do this.

The whistle blew and suddenly the ball was in my hands, leaving just as quickly in a beautiful spiral fifteen yards down the field. First down. I watched Jake run, his feet moving magically through the obstacles put in front of him. Finally, he was pushed out of bounds at the the 68 yard line. Clock stopped at 34 seconds.

_32 yards in 34 seconds, Cullen? Fuck that...you can do this._

And then I remembered something; we still had another time out to use. I caught my coach's eye, and he understood perfectly. I took a deep breath and prepared to throw the ball again. It left my hands quickly and went straight for Jake, who was standing ten yards outside the end zone. The ball went straight into his hands, but he was knocked to the ground before he could even take two steps towards our goal.

The whistle sounded for our time out, and I rushed over to our sideline huddle. My coach was frazzled as they called out that we only had seven yards to go. Seven yards, twenty two seconds to go. _Fuck yeah._ "Coach, I got this." He raised his eyebrow at me, but I was feeling great. I knew this game was mine. I was going to end it.

Emmett slapped my shoulder, making me cringe slightly. "I got your back, bro."

Before the whistle rang out for the last play of the game (because I was _that_ confident it would be), I glanced back into the sidelines, smiling widely at Bella. She smiled back, and I could resist winking at her. Surprising the hell out of me, she winked back brazenly, making my already high confidence soar.

The next thing I knew, I was running into the end zone, listening to the wild cheering of the Cardinals fans and my team mates all around me. I wanted to look back at Bella again, but I knew that I would break my resolve to keep everything a secret if I looked at her smiling face now. Instead, I allowed myself to be congratulated by my teammates before heading to get ready for our post-game press conference.

"Edward, Edward, Edward!" I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous amount of people standing and screaming at me. I'd finally fucking made it. The big leagues. I cleared my throat and leaned towards the microphone.

"Thank you, everyone, for being here today. I'm so glad that I can share this amazing game with all of you. It was pretty incredible, right?" I paused and let them yammer and cheer for a little bit while I composed my thoughts. Turning on the charm, that I knew I possessed, I continued.

"I can't believe I've won a Superbowl-it was my life dream to play and win one, and I can now say that I have, which is amazing, honestly. What I'm here to announce today, which my coach fully supports, is the end of my career as a Cardinal. I've recently decided to play with the New York Giants." The press started speaking up again, but I couldn't have that. The most important part of my announcement was yet to come. "I've always wanted to play in New York, close to my family, and I can't wait to move back east. Of course, I am so grateful for all the experience my time with the Cardinals has given me. Clearly, this team is my first family, and I will always remember my time spent here. After all, without the Cardinals, I wouldn't have met my fiancee, Isabella Swan. She currently works as a cheerleader for the Cardinals, but she's going to be the most amazing physical therapist in the world after she graduates in May."

The press exploded into conversation again, and this time...I wanted to answer their questions.

My publicist, shocked by announcement, picked someone in the second row. "Hi, Mr. Cullen, I'm Chad Eastwick with Fox Sports, and I was just wondering...you're engaged to a Cardinals cheerleader? Isn't that in breech of your contract?"

I laughed. "Uh, yeah...it is."

"So, how long have you been seeing one another?"

"Three years. And, yes, they could have fired us both a long time ago for that, but...I'm choosing to ignore that right now. I mean, I _did_ just win a Superbowl game, right?"

"You were willing to risk that all for some cheerleader?"

I ran my hand through my hair, chuckling at this kid's brashness. My publicist put his hand up, as if motioning to stop me from answering the question, but I couldn't stop myself. I was positive Bella was watching right now-in fact, I'd mandated that she watch it. So, I was going to give her all it was worth.

"First of all, Chad, was it?" He nodded. "She's not just 'some cheerleader.' She's the love of my life, and if you met her...you'd understand."

That seemed to satisfy the reporter, who smiled and nodded, while writing furiously on his pad of paper. I liked how this press conference had magically converted from being about my miraculous win to being about my relationship with Bella. And somehow, I was okay with that. I couldn't wait to see Bella and hear what her reaction to this had been. And I couldn't wait to put that fucking ring on her finger.

_**-BPOV- **_

_Oh.__  
__  
__My.__  
__  
__God!_

Edward had just beaten my mom to the punch. I was reeling over the fact that he had just won the SuperBowl, and that he had achieved his dream. The confetti had fallen from what seemed like no where and they had presented the trophy and announced the MVP-who also happened to be our own rookie of the year-Jake.

Then, as both the players and cheerleaders had rushed to the locker room, Edward hurried off to the press conference along with the coach and Jake. Sitting in the changing room, I hadn't even bothered to change, I had just slid my team sweats over my uniform and started clearing my locker into my bag. I had figured I should start on it while the other girls were preoccupied with showering and changing.

There had suddenly been a palpable electric buzz humming through the room as Edward stepped up to the press table to take his seat.

"He's too damn sexy," Lauren clamored on about _my_ man.

"And, now that he's won a SuperBowl, he's so much sexier," Jessica added in. Both women-if you could call them that-made me want to dig my nails in their face and claw away. But I held back because I knew the truth...I knew.

"Maybe in the off season we," Lauren pointed over at her partner in whorishness, "could convince dear Edward to break the 'no fraternizing' rule...you know, a _joint_ effort." Their erupting giggles and disgusting comments almost made me lose it.

"Doubtful," Rose sang out, entirely too happy. _She knows something._ I hadn't told her about the engagement because Edward and I had planned on surprising her and Em together. "He hasn't messed with either of you for, what...four years now?" Twin looks of contempt fell upon her, to which she shrugged, smiled, and then laughed at the silent response.

Clearing his throat to speak, he delivered his first blow. He was going to the New York Giants, to be closer to his family. Why hadn't he told me about the trade? I knew that-since Christmas-he had realized how much he'd missed his family. I shook off the surprise because I was graduating in a few months and wasn't at all worried. It might mean that we'd be apart for a few weeks, but no more than that, for sure.

And that's when he did it. He told the whole _entire_ _world_ that we were engaged. Hence, beating my mom to the punch. When I had warned him of her big mouth, he had mumbled something about not letting her be the one to tell. And now I saw why he had been so sure.

The heat of everyone's eyes were on me now, and I could feel their pointed stares burning into the back of my head-being that I was sitting closet to the TV.

The first response was the one I wanted, Rose's.

"Oh, Bella, you finally said 'yes?'" I nodded, and she hugged me in a tight hug. And then came the onslaught.

The quiet confusion turned to something else. It was a mix of 'awws' and congratulations, and then there were the few girls that had been pining over Edward for so long.

"You little slu,." Jessica's nasally voice screeched loudly through the locker room. "All this time acting all high and mighty. The whole time you've been breaking the rules."

"And why would he choose _you_?" Lauren's jealous rant broke in.

"I acted all high and mighty? Just because I didn't want to go slutting with you two doesn't mean that I was." I shot back at Jessica first. Then my eyes narrowed and looked beyond her to Lauren.

"As for why he chose me...I made him work for it...unlike some people I know of." My voice sounded irritated and irate. They were ruining my happy moment, and I was so through with it all. "He pursued me for a year-a year, ladies, before I even agreed to a date. Maybe you girls should have kept your knees together and your mouths closed for business. Maybe then you would have found a man, instead of the rotation of fuck buddies you have."

No one said anything, and I swore everyone around me heard each labored breath I took. Finally, the rest of the squad surrounded me-leaving the blow hard girls behind-and gave me rounds of hugs and kisses on my cheek. Some tiny rookie girl asked the question everyone had avoided.

"What are you going to do now?" Her name was Irina. I remembered because of her almost ivory colored blond locks. "I mean, they'll fire you for sure, and you still have til May for school." It was a very valid question and one I hadn't bothered with because my joy had been distracting me.

Edward and I had talked about my finances and why I suddenly had decided to accept his engagement come this game. But as I opened my mouth to speak, I was interrupted.

"Well, she doesn't have rent to pay for the next three months because I'm evicting her." I stared, flabbergasted, at my best friend slash roomie. "Edward's already had your stuff picked up over the past two weeks," she side-whispered to me but still loud enough for the other girls to hear.

"And," I added happily. "I have enough in savings to cover any additional expenses...but my tuition will be paid off this month." I had been scrounging money away and acting like a total frugal old woman to pay extra each semester, so that I would graduate with no debt. The Arizona Cardinal's cheerleader Calendar had also helped out.

Our coach walked in just after my declaration, and her face was red with fury. "Isabella Swan?" she called out to our huddled group. I stepped forward, but before I could tell her I quit, she launched into her own tirade.

"Were you not informed of the repercussions of fraternization with the players?" I nodded because it was obvious she had not finished. "Then I have no choice to inform you that you have been cut from the squad."

"That's fine."

"Don't bother arguing or trying to talk your way out of it."

"No, really, I'm okay with that. This was my last season anyway."

"Just go ahead and clear out your locker," she continued on, oblivious to anything I had just said to her. Evidently, though, everyone else had been paying attention. Snickers and giggles filled the space around me as I held up my filled bag and pointed at my empty locker.

The coach just huffed, turned on her heel, and stormed out-completely satisfied with her dismissal of me. Rose took my back from my hand and mouthed to me to "Go."

I rushed from the locker room, through the crowd of players and reporters to find my...fiance.

**A/N: Awwwww, right?**

**Leave me some love.**

**-xoxo IBM  
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